Section 23-105 - Safety equipment repair order for defective equipment. - Maryland Statutes

§ 23-105. Safety equipment repair order for defective equipment.
 

(a)  Issuance of order.-  

(1) If a police officer observes that a vehicle registered in this State is being operated with any equipment that apparently does not meet the standards established under this subtitle or the standards established under § 24-106.1 (e) of this article, the officer shall stop the driver of the vehicle and issue to him a safety equipment repair order. 

(2) A police officer may issue a safety equipment repair order for a cover required under § 24-106.1 (e) of this article only if: 

(i) The vehicle is equipped with a cover; and 

(ii) The cover, or any equipment necessary to properly secure the cover, does not meet the standards established under § 24-106.1 (e) of this article. 

(b)  Requisites of order.- The safety equipment repair order shall direct the owner of the vehicle: 

(1) To have the equipment corrected as necessary at a place of the owner's choosing within 10 days from the issuance of the order; and 

(2) To send to the Division a repair order certification dated subsequent to the issuance of the order. 

(c)  Visual inspection permitted.-  

(1) If a safety equipment repair order is for equipment that can be certified as corrected or adequate by visual inspection and without the use of testing equipment, any police department that issues safety equipment repair orders and repair order certifications shall, on request of the owner: 

(i) Visually inspect the vehicle; and 

(ii) If the equipment meets or exceeds the standards established under this subtitle, issue a repair order certification. 

(2) The Division shall determine the equipment that may be inspected visually under this subsection and shall adopt rules and regulations to carry out its provisions. 

(d)  Issuance of forms.- The Division shall prepare and provide safety equipment repair order forms and repair order certification forms. 

(e)  Enforcement of order.-  

(1) In cooperation with the Administration, the Division shall adopt rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this section. 

(2) The rules or regulations shall provide for: 

(i) Suspending the registration of any vehicle for which a safety equipment repair order has been issued, on failure to comply with the order within 30 days after its issuance; and 

(ii) Reinstating the suspended registration, on receipt of satisfactory evidence that the equipment has been corrected or that the equipment meets or exceeds the standards established under this subtitle. 

(f)  Section not exclusive.- This section does not limit or supersede any other provision of law concerning vehicle equipment or the means of enforcing the laws relating to that equipment. 
 

[An. Code 1957, art. 661/2, § 13-104; 1977, ch. 14, § 2; 1979, ch. 421; 1988, ch. 6, § 1; 1989, chs. 541, 796.]