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3 Tennessee Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (1973-1974)

handle is hein.sag/sagtn0165 and id is 1 raw text is: STATE      OF    TENNESSEE
OFFICE OF THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL
SUPREME COURT BUILDING
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 37219
DAVID M. PACK
ATTORNEY GENERAL & REPORTER
OPINION NO. 1
TO: County Attorney
DATE: June 14, 1973
QUESTIONS
1. Can restricted driving privileges be granted to an interstate truck driver after a DWI conviction?
2. Can restricted or limited driving privileges be granted to anyone who does not have a designated
and specific place of departure and terminal during the working day?
3. Orders issued by courts for special driving privileges usually detail time and place of departure
and time and place of arrival. Illustration: A wage earner going from his home to his plant and re-
turn. Do driving privileges extend to any other kind of employe whose driving requirements preclude
detailing specific routes of travel, such as an insurance salesman with a debit, or a real estate appraiser,
or truck driver (arrested in family car) engaged in interstate commerce?
4. Is this class legislation by reason of one wage earner being allowed to retain his job and keep
his income by virtue of the nature of his job, as opposed to men in these other classifications losing
their jobs and income?
OPINION
The judge of the court in which a person is convicted of DWI pursuant to T.C.A. §59-1031, et
seq., may order the issuance of a restricted driver's license allowing said person to operate a motor
vehicle at any time and place within the reasonable scope of and necessary to his regular employment.
ANALYSIS
Section 59-1035, T.C.A., provides that a judge
may order the issuance of a restricted license allowing the person so con-
victed to operate a motor vehicle for the purpose of going to and from and
working at his regular place of employment. Such order shall state with all
practicable specificity the necessary times and places of permissible opera-
tion of a motor vehicle.. . (emphasis added)
It is our opinion that use of the words and working at permits the issuance of a restricted li-
cense affording driving privileges to any person who necessarily must operate a motor vehicle not
merely in getting to and from a fixed job location but in actually carrying out or working at his reg-
ular employment. It is a modern day fact that the highway is the regular place of employment of
countless persons.
This is not to say that the legislature could have no compelling interest in limiting the driving
time of adjudged irresponsible persons such as would justify the allowance of only short trips to and
from a fixed job location. It is merely to say that in our opinion the language of T.C.A. §59-1035 does
not require such a restrictive interpretation.
PHILLIP W. BROOKS
Assistant Attorney General

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