Cognitive Impairment Standard and Procedures

(1) Definitions. (a) Cognitive Impairment. A Cognitive Impairment is defined as any condition that impairs any, or several, of the mental faculties of attention, perception, orientation, problem solving, sequencing, organization, comprehension, judgment, memory, reasoning, or physical action or response used by a person to understand and interact with the environment. (b) A Severe Driving Relevant Cognitive Impairment. A Severe Driving Relevant Cognitive Impairment is a significant deficit or impairment of any cause, in any of the above faculties, limiting the ability of a licensee or an applicant for a learner's permit or license to resist distraction, sustain attention, react with sufficient speed, understand the immediate driving context, refrain from impulsive responding, identify problems that arise in the driving context, and make appropriate decisions to address those problems necessary to the safe operation of a motor vehicle such that operating a motor vehicle is likely to produce an unacceptable risk to public safety. (2) A licensee or an applicant for a license or learner's permit who is determined by a Health Care Provider to have a Severe Driving Relevant Cognitive Impairment shall be deemed ineligible for a license or permit to operate a motor vehicle. (3) A licensee with a Severe Driving Relevant Cognitive Impairment shall voluntarily surrender his or her license or the Registry of Motor Vehicles shall suspend or revoke that license. (4) Upon submission by a licensee, license applicant or holder of a learner's permit of an evaluation, including an assessment of cognitive function, completed by his or her health care provider as defined in M.G.L. c. 90, § 22I which confirms that the licensee, applicant or holder of a learner's permit: (a) No longer has a Severe Driving Relevant Cognitive Impairment; and (b) To a reasonable degree of medical certainty the licensee or license applicant has the cognitive capacity to safely operate a motor vehicle; and (c) Any currently prescribed medications or dosages related to cognitive function, if any, are not likely to interfere with the safe operation of a motor vehicle, then the Registry of Motor Vehicles shall determine that the licensee or applicant is eligible for licensure or to be issued a learner's permit. qualification criteria relative to a Driving Relevant Cognitive Impairment as he or she deems appropriate.