Signed by Governor Steve Sisolak

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that amends minor traffic violations to be a civil instead of criminal infraction.

Highlights:

• Defines “department” as the Department of Motor Vehicles (Sec. 1-2.a).

• Defines “director” as the Director of the Department (Sec. 1-2.b).

• Authorizes the Department to require every applicant for a driver’s license, including a commercial driver’s license, to submit to an examination. The examination may include (Sec. 4-1):

• A test of the applicant’s ability to understand official devices used to control traffic;

• A test of the applicant’s knowledge of practices for safe driving and the traffic laws of this State;

• A test of the applicant’s eyesight; and

• An actual demonstration of the applicant’s ability to exercise ordinary and reasonable control in the operation of a motor vehicle of the type or class of vehicle for which he or she is to be licensed.

• Requires any person who receives a civil infraction citation to respond to the citation as provided in this section not later than 90 calendar days after the date on which the citation is issued (Sec. 30-1).

• Establishes any civil penalty collected must be paid to (Sec. 34-1):

• The treasurer of the city in which the civil infraction occurred; or

• If the civil infraction did not occur in a city, the treasurer of the county in which the civil infraction occurred.

• Specifies if a civil penalty, administrative assessment, or fee is imposed upon a person who is found to have committed a civil infraction, inclusive, of this act, whether or not the civil penalty, administrative assessment, or fee is in addition to any other punishment, and the civil penalty, administrative assessment or fee or any part of it remains unpaid after the time established by the court for its payment, the delinquent person is liable for a collection fee, to be imposed by the court at the time it finds that the civil penalty, administrative assessment or fee is delinquent, of:

• Not more than $100, if the amount of the delinquency is less than $2,000;

• Not more than $500, if the amount of the delinquency is $2,000 or greater, but is less than $5,000;

• 10% of the amount of the delinquency, if the amount of the delinquency is $5,000 or greater.

• Prohibits a local authority from enacting an ordinance to (Sec. 37-3):

• Governing the registration of vehicles and the licensing of drivers;

• Governing the duties and obligations of persons involved in traffic crashes, other than the duties to stop, render aid, and provide necessary information;

• Providing a penalty for an offense for which the penalty prescribed of NRS is greater than that imposed for a misdemeanor;

• Providing a criminal penalty for a violation for which the penalty prescribed by those chapters is a civil penalty; or

• Requiring a permit for a vehicle, or to operate a vehicle, on a highway in this State.

• Establishes if a violation that is a civil infraction occurred in an area designated as a pedestrian safety zone, the violation is punished by a civil penalty punishable by an amount equal to and in addition to the civil penalty imposed that the court imposes for the primary infraction (Sec. 43.b).

Full Bill Text