 |
D.C. Municipal Regulations (Last Updated: September 13, 2017) |
 |
Title 18. VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC |
|
Chapter 18-1. ISSUANCE OF DRIVER LICENSES |
Section 18-100. PROVISIONS
-
100.1The rules and regulations set forth in this chapter govern matters relating to driver's licenses, learner's permits, provisional permits, and non-resident driving permits, including qualifications for licenses; medical and physical standards for licenses; procedures for application, testing, issuance, and renewal of driver's licenses; duplicate and modified licenses; annotations on licenses, and other matters.
100.2No person, except those expressly exempted by § 100.3, shall drive any motor vehicle in the District of Columbia unless he or she has a valid license under the provisions of this chapter.
100.3The following persons are exempt from the license requirements set forth in this chapter:
(a)Non-residents exempt under the provisions of § 8 of the Act of March 3, 1925, as amended (D.C. Official Code § 40-303 (1986));
(b)High school or junior high school students fifteen (15) years of age or over who are enrolled in an approved driver education and training course, when operating an approved driver education motor vehicle under instruction and accompanied by a licensed motor vehicle driving instructor.
100.4The Department shall not issue an operator's license to any of the following:
(a)Any person who is under sixteen (16) years of age;
(b)Any person who is an habitual drunkard, or is an habitual user of narcotic drugs, or is an habitual user of any other drug to a degree which renders him or her incapable of safely driving a motor vehicle;
(c)Any person who has previously been adjudged to be afflicted with or suffering from any mental disability or disease and who has not at the time of application been restored to competency by the methods provided by law;
(d)Any person required by this title to take an examination, unless that person has successfully passed the examination; and
(e)Any person, when the Director has good cause to believe that person by reason of physical or mental disability would not be able to operate a motor vehicle with safety.
100.5 Any person holding a valid learner permit, provisional permit, driver license, identification card, or its equivalent, from any jurisdiction must surrender it to the Department prior to obtaining a District of Columbia learner permit, provisional permit or operator license.
100.6 At the Director’s discretion, he or she is not required to comply with the provisions set forth in this chapter when issuing a learner permit, driver license or identification card to an employee of Federal or District of Columbia criminal justice agencies that require special licensing or identification to safeguard themselves in support of their official duties.
100.7
(a) The Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles is authorized to negotiate and enter into an agreement with a foreign country that exempts the citizens of such foreign country from the written knowledge test and the road test required in 18 DCMR § 104 so long as the citizen holds a valid operator permit of an equivalent class issued by such foreign country.
(b) No such agreement shall be entered into unless the foreign country offers the same reciprocity to persons holding a valid operator license of an equivalent class issued by the District of Columbia and the Director determines that the laws of such foreign country relating to the operation of motor vehicles are sufficiently similar to such laws of the District such that driving safety shall not be compromised.
(c) The provisions of this subsection notwithstanding, the Department shall not be authorized to enter into any reciprocal agreement with any foreign country that is designated as a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States Department of State.
(d) The exemption provided for in this subsection shall not be an exemption from any other legal requirement for the issuance of an operator permit.
(e) This subsection shall not apply to citizens of foreign countries applying for a commercial driver license or motorcycle endorsement.