                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

TESTING REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMERCIAL DRIVER&#8217;S LICENSE; BEHIND-THE-WHEEL AND
KNOWLEDGE EXAMINATIONS (§ 46.2-341.14)

A. The Department shall conduct an examination of every applicant for a
commercial driver&#8217;s license, which examination shall comply with the
minimum federal standards established pursuant to the federal Commercial Motor
Vehicle Safety Act. The examination shall be designed to test the vision,
knowledge, and skills required for the safe operation of the class and type of
commercial motor vehicle for which the applicant seeks a license.
			No skills test shall be conducted by the Department for a first-time
applicant for a Class A or Class B commercial driver&#8217;s license, a
passenger endorsement, or a school bus endorsement, or knowledge test for a
first-time applicant for a hazardous materials endorsement, until (i) the
Department has verified that the applicant has completed the appropriate
entry-level driver training course administered by a training provider required
for that skills or knowledge test, if the applicant is so required, or (ii) the
applicant has certified that he is exempted from such requirement under &#xA7;
46.2-341.12.

B. An applicant&#8217;s skills test shall be conducted in a vehicle that is
representative of or meets the description of the class of vehicle for which the
applicant seeks to be licensed. In addition, applicants who seek to be licensed
to drive vehicles with air brakes, passenger-carrying vehicles, or school buses
must take the skills test in a vehicle that is representative of such vehicle
type. Such vehicle shall be furnished by the applicant and shall be properly
licensed, inspected and insured.

C. The Commissioner may designate such persons as he deems fit, including
private or governmental entities, including comprehensive community colleges in
the Virginia Community College System, to administer the knowledge and skills
tests required of applicants for a commercial driver&#8217;s license. Any person
so designated shall comply with all statutes and regulations with respect to the
administration of such tests.
			The Commissioner shall require all state and third party test examiners to
successfully complete a formal commercial driver&#8217;s license test examiner
training course and examination before certifying them to administer commercial
driver&#8217;s license knowledge and skills tests. All state and third party
test examiners shall complete a refresher training course and examination every
four years to maintain their commercial driver&#8217;s license test examiner
certification. The refresher training course shall comply with 49 C.F.R. &#xA7;
384.228. At least once every two years, the Department shall conduct covert and
overt monitoring of examinations performed by state and third party commercial
driver&#8217;s license test examiners.
			The Commissioner shall require a nationwide criminal background check of all
test examiners at the time of hiring or prior to certifying them to administer
commercial driver&#8217;s license testing. The Commissioner shall complete a
nationwide criminal background check for any state or third party test examiners
who are current examiners and who have not had a nationwide criminal background
check.
			The Commissioner shall revoke the certification to administer commercial
driver&#8217;s license tests for any test examiner who (i) does not successfully
complete the required refresher training every four years or (ii) does not pass
the required nationwide criminal background check. Criteria for not passing the
criminal background check include but are not limited to having a felony
conviction within the past 10 years or any conviction involving fraudulent
activities.

D. Every applicant for a commercial driver&#8217;s license who is required by
the Commissioner to take a vision test shall either (i) appear before a license
examiner of the Department of Motor Vehicles to demonstrate his visual acuity
and horizontal field of vision or (ii) submit with his application a copy of the
vision examination report that was used as the basis for such examination made
within 90 days of the application date by an ophthalmologist or optometrist. The
Commissioner may, by regulation, determine whether any other visual tests will
satisfy the requirements of this title for commercial drivers.

E. No person who fails the behind-the-wheel examination for a commercial
driver&#8217;s license administered by the Department three times shall be
permitted to take such examination a fourth time until he successfully
completes, subsequent to the third examination failure, the in-vehicle component
of driver instruction at a driver training school licensed under Chapter 17
(&#xA7; 46.2-1700 et seq.) or a comprehensive community college in the Virginia
Community College System, or a comparable course approved by the Department or
the Department of Education. In addition, no person who fails the general
knowledge examination for a commercial driver&#8217;s license administered by
the Department three times shall be permitted to take such examination a fourth
time until he successfully completes, subsequent to the third examination
failure, the knowledge component of driver instruction at a driver training
school licensed under Chapter 17 (&#xA7; 46.2-1700 et seq.) or a comprehensive
community college in the Virginia Community College System, or a comparable
course approved by the Department or the Department of Education. All persons
required to attend a driver training school, a comprehensive community college,
or a comparable course pursuant to this section shall be required, after
successful completion of necessary courses, to have the applicable examination
administered by the Department.
			Comprehensive community colleges offering courses pursuant to this section
shall meet course curriculum requirements established and made available by the
Department and be comparable to the curriculum offered by Class A licensed
schools. A course curriculum meeting the established requirements shall be
submitted to the Department and shall be approved by the Department prior to the
beginning of course instruction.
			The Department shall provide and update the list of course curriculum
requirements from time to time, as deemed appropriate and necessary by the
Department. The Department shall notify the affected schools and comprehensive
community colleges if new relevant topics are added to the course curriculum.
Schools and comprehensive community colleges shall have 45 calendar days after
such notice is issued to update their course curriculum and to certify to the
Department in a format prescribed by the Department that the school or
comprehensive community college has added the new topics to the course
curriculum.
			The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to persons placed under
medical control pursuant to &#xA7; 46.2-322.

F. Knowledge tests may be administered in written form, verbally, or in
automated format and can be administered in a foreign language, provided no
interpreter is used in administering the test.

G. Interpreters are prohibited during the administration of the skills tests.
Applicants must be able to understand and respond to verbal commands and
instructions in English by a skills test examiner. Neither the applicant nor the
examiner may communicate in a language other than English during the skills
test.

H. Skills tests may be administered to an applicant who has taken training in
the Commonwealth at a driver training school licensed under Chapter 17 (&#xA7;
46.2-1700 et seq.) or a comprehensive community college in the Virginia
Community College System, or a comparable course approved by the Department or
the Department of Education, and is to be licensed in another state. Such test
results shall be electronically transmitted directly from the Commonwealth to
the licensing state in an efficient and secure manner. The Department may charge
a fee of not more than $85 to any such applicant.

I. The Department shall accept the results of skills tests administered to
applicants by any other state in fulfillment of the applicant&#8217;s testing
requirements for commercial licensure in the Commonwealth.

J. The Department may administer skills performance evaluations in accordance
with its agreement with the FMCSA. Notwithstanding the provisions of &#xA7;
46.2-208, any medical information that is collected as part of the evaluation
may be released to and inspected by the FMCSA.

HISTORY: 1989, c. 705, § 46.1-372.14; 2008, c. 735; 2013, cc. 165, 582; 2014,
cc. 77, 803; 2015, c. 258; 2016, c. 429; 2017, c. 232; 2019, c. 750; 2020, c.
546.