March 30, 2011

KEY COMMITTEE OKS GENGA BILL
SUSPENDING LICENSES OF BAD DRIVERS
Multiple Moving Violations To Result In Suspension

The state legislature’s Transportation Committee has approved a bill sponsored by Rep. Henry Genga (D-East Hartford) that would require the suspension of a driver’s license if the person has any additional moving violations after undergoing a driver retraining class for multiple violations.

Under current law, a driver can have an unlimited number of certain moving violations and still keep a license as long as the person undergoes a driver retraining program after every two or three violations depending on the person’s age. There is no maximum number of times for re-taking the retraining program.

Under the proposed law, a person who has multiple moving violations would be allowed to take the retraining program and retain a driver’s license only once. After that, an additional violation within a three-year period would result in a 30-day suspension; a second additional violation would trigger a 60-day suspension; a third or more would result in 90-day suspensions.

Genga introduced the legislation (HB 6193) after an East Hartford man repeatedly drove recklessly through his Central Avenue neighborhood. The man had 31 moving violations – 19 in East Hartford and 12 in other towns – and went through the driver retraining program five times, allowing him to keep his license.

“With this legislation, the people of Central Avenue and other neighborhoods throughout the state should feel much safer,” Genga said. “If drivers do not respect the law and their neighbors, their license to drive can be taken away much more easily with this new law.”

Genga’s legislation gained the Transportation Committee’s favor recently and was included in an omnibus bill (HB 6581) that revises state motor vehicle statutes.

Rep. Timothy Larson (D-East Hartford), Rep. Jason Rojas (D-East Hartford, Glastonbury, Manchester) and Sen. Gary LeBeau (D-East Hartford) are co-sponsors of Genga’s legislation.