Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers & Impaired Driving
XII.
CDL MASKING Congress passed a statute prohibiting certain actions by the State that would impede the recording of a complete and accurate driving record of a CLP or CDL holder. A complete and accurate driving record must include all violations (unless specifically accepted in the statute) of traffic control laws which include both CMV and non-CMV violations by the CLP or CDL holde(r2.5). The regulation implementing this Congressional prohibition is 49 C.F.R. § 384.226 (2017): The State must not mask, defer imposition of judgment, or allow an individual to enter into a diversion program that would prevent a CLP or CDL holder’s conviction for any violation, in any type of motor vehicle, of a State or local traffic control law (other than parking, vehicle weight, or vehicle defect violations) from appearing on the CDLIS driver record, whether the driver was convicted for an offense committed in the State where the driver is licensed or another State. Masking is “the act or an instance of concealing something’s true nature.”Any actions taken by the State that would change the nature of a conviction for a violation would constitute masking. One such example is “the act or practice of a defendant’s agreeing by plea bargain to plead guilty to a less serious offense than the one originally charged, as by pleading guilty to parking on the curb when (27) one has been charged with speeding in a school zone.” prohibition applies to both CDL holders and CLP holders even when they are operating a non-CMV (e.g. their personal automobile). The masking The State is bound by this regulation and is ethically required to abide by it. The State includes anyone acting on behalf of the state – law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, state driver’s license agencies, etc. and that holds true for these regulations as well. This is reflected in the federal regulation requiring that the State meet each standard of Subpart B – Minimum Standards for Substantial Compliance by States: To be in substantial compliance with 49 CFR § 31311(a), a State must meet each standard of subpart B of this part by means of the demonstrable combined effect of its statues, regulations, administrative procedures and practices, organizational structures, intenal control mechanisms, resource assignments (facilities, equipment, and personnel), and enforcement practices.
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