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DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES
NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING
The Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles (Director), pursuant to the authority set forth in Sections 1825 and 1826 of the Department of Motor Vehicles Establishment Act of 1998, effective March 26, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-175; D.C. Official Code §§ 50-904 and 50-905 (2009 Repl.)), and Sections 6 and 7 of the District of Columbia Traffic Act of 1925, approved March 3, 1925 (43 Stat. 1121; D.C. Official Code §§ 50-2201.03 and 50-1401.01 (2009 Repl.)), hereby gives notice of the intent to adopt the following rulemaking that will amend Chapter 1 (Issuance of Driver’s Licenses) of Title 18 (Vehicles and Traffic) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR). The proposed rules will allow third party examiners to administer road tests for driver’s licenses in lieu of testing by Department of Motor Vehicles employees.
The Director also gives notice of her intent to take final rulemaking action to adopt these rules in not less than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.
Title 18, VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC, of the DCMR is amended as follows:
Chapter 1, ISSUANCE OF DRIVER’S LICENSES, is amended as follows:
A new Section 113, THIRD PARTY TESTING, is added to read as follows:
113 THIRD PARTY TESTING
113.1 The Director may authorize a District of Columbia licensed driving instructor (“third party examiner”) employed by a District of Columbia licensed driving school as described in Chapter 9 of this title (“third party employer”) to administer the road test described in Section 104 of this chapter, if the following conditions are met:
(a) The road tests given by the third party examiner are the same as those which would otherwise be given by the Department of Motor Vehicles;
(b) The third party examiner has successfully completed a road test examiner training course, as approved by the Director;
(c) The third party employer has an agreement with the Department of Motor Vehicles containing, at a minimum, provisions that:
(1) Allow the Department of Motor Vehicles to conduct random examinations of the third party examiner and audits of the employer without prior notice;
(2) Require that all third party examiners meet the same qualification and training standards as Department of Motor Vehicle examiners, to the extent necessary to conduct road tests;
(3) Require that all third party examiners who will administer the skills test pass an examination to the satisfaction of the Director;
(4) Require that its third party examiners initiate and complete each road test at a Department of Motor Vehicles facility designated by the Director;
(5) Require that the results from each road test administered by a third party examiner be delivered to the Department of Motor Vehicles by the examiner immediately after conclusion of the examination;
(6) Require that the third party employer maintain bodily injury and property damage liability insurance as set forth by the Director;
(7) Require that the third party employer indemnify and hold harmless the District of Columbia and its employees from and against all claims, demands, judgments, losses, damages, and costs arising directly or indirectly from any act or omission of the third party examiner or third party employer relating to his, her, or its activities under this section.
(8) Allow Department of Motor Vehicles employees to take the tests actually administered by the third party examiner as if the Department of Motor Vehicles’ employee were a test applicant and allow the Department of Motor Vehicles to test a sample of drivers who were examined by the third party examiner to compare pass/fail results;
(9) Allow the third party employer to charge a fee, the maximum of which will be determined by the Director; and
(10) Reserve to the Department of Motor Vehicles the right to take prompt and appropriate remedial action against the third party employer or the third party examiner if either fails to comply with a provision of this section, the Department of Motor Vehicles standards for the driver’s license testing program, or any term of the agreement required by this paragraph.
All persons desiring to comment on the subject matter of this proposed rulemaking should file comments, in writing, to David Glasser, General Counsel, D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles, 95 M Street, S.W., Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20024 or online at www.dcregs.dc.gov. Comments must be received not later than thirty (30) days after the publication of this notice in the D.C. Register. Copies of this proposal may be obtained, at cost, by writing to the above address.
