2011 Connecticut Code
Title 14 Motor Vehicles. Use of the Highway By Vehicles. Gasoline
Chapter 248 Vehicle Highway Use
Sec. 14-273. Operation of motor vehicles requiring a passenger endorsement or passenger and school endorsement.

      Sec. 14-273. Operation of motor vehicles requiring a passenger endorsement or passenger and school endorsement. (a) No person operating a motor vehicle for which a passenger endorsement or passenger and school endorsement is required shall carry any person upon the running board, mudguard, hood, roof or any exterior portion of such vehicle. No motor bus shall carry more passengers than the seating capacity thereof, except that, upon application to the Department of Transportation, said department may, after examination of such motor bus, issue to the owner thereof a license to carry such number of passengers in excess of the seating capacity of such bus as said department deems reasonable, which license may be issued upon such conditions and for such additional fee, payable to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, as said department prescribes. Any such license issued by the Division of Public Utility Control within the Department of Business Regulation prior to October 1, 1979, shall remain valid as long as the licensee meets the conditions prescribed by the Department of Transportation. The total number of persons carried at any time by any motor vehicle for which a passenger endorsement or passenger and school endorsement is required, other than a motor bus, shall not exceed the number specified in the certificate of registration. No motor vehicle used for the transportation of school children shall carry any number of passengers in excess of the seating capacity specified by the manufacturer of such vehicle. No motor vehicle used for the transportation of school children shall be equipped with a longitudinal center seat. The commissioner may suspend the registration of any such motor vehicle for a violation of any provision of this section until such time as the requirements hereof have been complied with.

      (b) Any person who violates any provision of subsection (a) of this section shall be deemed to have committed an infraction.

      (1949 Rev., S. 2423; 1955, S. 1318d; 1957, P.A. 264, S. 1; P.A. 75-486, 43, 69; P.A. 77-614, S. 162, 610; P.A. 79-610, S. 6; P.A. 80-25, S. 1; P.A. 82-223, S. 18; P.A. 83-577, S. 23; P.A. 86-85, S. 2, 3; P.A. 90-263, S. 26, 74; P.A. 93-341, S. 23, 38; P.A. 94-189, S. 18, 34.)

      History: P.A. 75-486 replaced public utilities commission with public utilities control authority; P.A. 77-614 replaced authority with division of public utility control within the department of business regulation, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 79-610 replaced division of public utility control with department of transportation and deleted reference to disbanded department of business regulation; P.A. 80-25 added provision in Subsec. (a) validating licenses issued by division of public utility control; P.A. 82-223 amended Subsec. (c) by specifying that violation of Subsec. (a) constituted an infraction and changing the fine from not less than $5 nor more than $25 to $25; P.A. 83-577 amended Subsec. (c) by increasing the fine to $35; P.A. 86-85 eliminated seventy-two person limit on seating capacity for school buses and prohibited the carrying of passengers in excess of manufacturer's specifications; P.A. 90-263 amended Subsec. (a) to substitute "person operating a motor vehicle for which a public passenger transportation permit is required" for public service motor vehicle and to add "roof or any exterior portion of such vehicle" after "hood", deleted provisions of Subsec. (b) re public service motor vehicles in entirety, relettering remaining Subsec. as (b) and amended Subsec. (b), formerly (c), to delete $35 fine for each offense; P.A. 93-341 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing reference to public passenger transportation permits with reference to passenger endorsement or passenger and school endorsement, effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 94-189 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting the reference to "public passenger transportation permit" and inserting "passenger endorsement or passenger and school endorsement" in lieu thereof, effective July 1, 1994.

      See Sec. 14-250 re required stopping at railroad crossing.