HB 115 provides Ohio residents with communication disabilities with the opportunity to register their drivers license or license plate numbers with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The information would then appear on the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) to afford law enforcement officers notice of that disability prior to making a traffic stop. It is hoped that this will promote effective communication and prevent misunderstandings between a law enforcement officer and a driver or passenger with a communication disability.

R.C. §3304.23 defines a communication disability as a human condition involving an impairment in the human’s ability to receive, send, process, or comprehend concepts or verbal, nonverbal, or graphic symbol systems that may result in a primary disability or may be secondary to other disabilities. A disability that can impair communication is defined as a human condition with symptoms that can impair the human’s ability to receive, send, process, or comprehend concepts or verbal, nonverbal, or graphic symbol systems.

R.C. §5502.08 specifies that the information in the communication disability database is not a public record.

Registration for the database is completely voluntary. Individuals, parents or guardians may complete the registration form. A section of the form must also be completed by a licensed physician, psychiatrist or psychologist prior to its submission to the BMV.

Click Here for more information and registration forms.