Vehicle marker; fee; penalty assessments payable by mail; victims’ compensation tax

# (a)

The Department of Transportation shall provide an identification marker and registration card to every motor vehicle operated within this State by the motor carrier. The identification marker must be affixed to the vehicle in an easily visible position and the registration card carried in the cab of the vehicle. The identification marker and registration card shall remain the property of this State and may be recalled for any violation of this chapter or of the regulations promulgated under this chapter. The Department of Transportation shall provide by regulation for the registration of every such vehicle for a fee of $5.00 each. Registration cards and identification markers shall be issued on a 12-month basis effective January 1 of each year and shall be valid through the next succeeding December 31 except that any identification marker and registration card issued during a registration year for the subsequent registration year shall constitute valid registration immediately upon proper display of the marker and possession of the registration card in the subject vehicle. The enforcement of this subsection shall not become effective until January 15 of each year; provided the motor carrier has the previous year’s identification card in the cab of the vehicle before entry into this State. It shall be illegal to operate or to cause to be operated in this State any motor vehicle defined in § 5202 of this title unless the vehicle bears the identification marker required by this section; provided, however, that the Department of Transportation, by regulation, may exempt from the requirement of displaying the identification marker such vehicles as urban and public transit vehicles or others if in its discretion they are clearly identifiable and the effective enforcement of this chapter will not suffer thereby. In addition and for a period not exceeding 72 hours as to any 1 motor carrier the Department of Transportation, by letter or telegram, may authorize the operation of a vehicle or vehicles without the identification marker required when the enforcement of this section for that period would cause undue delay and hardship in the operation of the vehicle or vehicles. The fee for this authorization shall be $15 for each motor vehicle and conditions for the issuance of such authorization shall be set by regulations promulgated by the Department of Transportation.

# (b)

# (1)

Whoever violates this section shall, for the first offense, be fined not less than $115 nor more than $345, and for each subsequent offense, not less than $345 nor more than $575.

# (2)

Justice of the Peace Courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction over this section.

# (c)

Any duly authorized police officer of this State or of any political subdivision of this State, who charges any person with any of the specified offenses as set out in this section, may, in addition to issuing a summons for said offenses, provide the offending operator with a form which, when properly executed by the officer and the offender, will allow the offender to dispose of the charge without the necessity of personally appearing in the Court to which the summons is returnable. Such penalty assessments must be paid within 10 days from the date of arrest and shall be paid only by check or money order. This subsection shall be applicable to Delaware residents and to residents of those jurisdictions which reciprocate with Delaware.

# (d)

In addition to, and at the same time as, any fine is assessed under this chapter, there shall also be levied an additional victims’ compensation tax surcharge in the amount of 18% of the fine imposed. This surcharge shall be payable in the same manner as set forth in subsection (c) of this section.