Relating to chauffeurs and exempting certain persons from the requirement to be licensed as a chauffeur

Under current law, chauffeurs are subject to special driver’s licensing requirements. A chauffeur is a person who operates a motor vehicle, including a school bus, in the transportation of persons for wages, compensation, or hire, or a person who operates a truck tractor, road tractor, or a motor truck which has a gross vehicle weight rating exceeding 16,000 pounds. There are exceptions that specifically exempt certain persons from being considered a chauffeur. This bill eliminates from the definition of chauffeur persons who operate a truck tractor, road tractor, or motor truck which has a gross vehicle weight rating exceeding 16,000 pounds. The bill changes the existing exception relating to volunteer fire fighters and volunteer ambulance and rescue squad attendants by eliminating the volunteer requirement and by eliminating the volunteer classification for persons who receive nominal compensation not based upon the value of the service performed. The bill exempts all fire fighters when operating a fire apparatus and all ambulance and rescue squad attendants when operating an ambulance or rescue squad apparatus from being considered a chauffeur. The fee for a chauffeur’s instruction permit is $12 compared to a fee of $6 for an instruction permit other than a special instruction, chauffeur’s instruction, or commercial learner’s permit. The fee for a noncommercial chauffeur driver’s license is $8 per year of validity compared to a fee of $4 per year of validity for noncommercial driver’s licenses.