Bill
HB 577
DMV must study adding an optional emergency contact field to driver license/renewal forms and report findings to the legislature by Jan 1, 2024.
Status snapshot
- Bill title (as provided): Emergency Information on DMV Applications/Study
- Primary subject areas: DMV/driver license forms; emergency contact information; administrative study and reporting
- Sponsor / jurisdiction details: bill materials include a version filed in North Carolina (2023) that matches the subject; other documents with the same bill number in the packet relate to unrelated topics and different states — this summary focuses on the DMV/emergency‑info study text included in the packet.
Purpose and intent
- HB 577 directs the state Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to examine whether and how driver license and driver license renewal application forms should be modified to include an optional field for applicants to provide or update emergency contact information. The intent is to evaluate feasibility and produce an implementation plan to improve emergency response and family notification when drivers are involved in crashes or medical emergencies.
Key provisions
- Study requirement: The DMV (or Division of Motor Vehicles of the Department of Transportation) must conduct a study on modifying license and renewal application forms to add an option for applicants to provide or update emergency contact information.
- Deliverable / reporting: The DMV must prepare and submit a report with findings and any legislative recommendations to the state legislature and specified oversight committees (in the included text: the General Assembly, chairs of the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee, and the Fiscal Research Division).
- Report deadline (in the included text): the DMV’s report is due by January 1, 2024 (note: the packet shows varied filing/intro dates across documents; the bill text itself states the January 1 reporting deadline).
- Effective date: the act takes effect when it becomes law (per the included language).
Who would be affected
- Division of Motor Vehicles: required to study form changes and prepare the report; may need to assess technical form design, data handling, staff/process impacts and costs.
- Drivers/applicants: would be offered an optional way to provide emergency contacts on applications/renewals (if implemented following the study).
- Emergency responders, law enforcement, and families: potentially benefit from faster notification or access to emergency contact information if policies and systems permit secure use of the data.
- Privacy and data‑security stakeholders: affected by decisions about collection, storage, access controls, retention and use of emergency contact data.
Potential fiscal/operational impact
- The study itself is likely to have a minimal, short‑term administrative cost; implementation (if recommended) could require modest DMV IT/form redesign expenses, staff training, rulemaking, and data security measures.
- The bill as drafted only mandates a study and report; it does not by itself change forms or create new data‑sharing authorities.
Procedural / timeline notes
- The bill text included requires the DMV to report back by a specific date (Jan 1, 2024). Users should confirm the report deadline and the bill’s introduction/enactment dates in the relevant session (some materials in the packet show different filing dates and multiple unrelated HB 577 versions from other states).
- Next steps (if enacted): the legislature would review the DMV study; any recommended statutory or regulatory changes to adopt emergency‑contact options would require separate legislation or administrative rulemaking and budget/IT appropriation as needed.
Considerations policymakers may weigh
- Privacy and consent: ensure emergency contact collection is optional and governed by clear privacy, retention and access rules.
- Utility: determine whether emergency contact data should be accessible to first responders or only used for post‑incident notifications.
- Cost vs. benefit: weigh DMV implementation and IT/security costs against expected improvements in emergency notification and response.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
Sign in to ask a question.
