Driver Licenses

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide information about suspensions of licenses based on medical conditions other than diabetes requiring insulin.

Changes to Commercial Driver License Medical Requirements

This bill changes Tennessee's rules for commercial driver licenses by allowing people with diabetes requiring insulin and well-controlled through medication to drive commercial vehicles in any state and transport hazardous materials if they are certified as medically fit.

What This Bill Does

• Removes the rule that prevents drivers from being denied a commercial license or declared medically unfit because of diabetes requiring insulin, if their condition is well-controlled by medication.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who need commercial driver licenses in Tennessee
• Medical examiners certified by the federal motor carrier safety administration

Terms To Know

Commercial Driver License (CDL)

A special license needed to drive large trucks or buses that carry goods or people for work.

Medical Examiner

A doctor who checks if someone is healthy enough to have a commercial driver's license.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill only affects drivers in Tennessee.
• It does not change rules for other medical conditions beyond diabetes requiring insulin.
• Drivers must still meet federal safety standards and be certified by specific doctors.

Official Summary Text

Present law prohibits a person from being denied a commercial driver license, or being deemed medically unqualified to operate a motor vehicle, based on the failure to meet motor safety carrier regulations because of any of the following medical conditio
ns:



Distant visual acuity, if the person has only one eye but the distant visual acuity meets the requirements of federal law.



A medical history or diagnosis of diabetes mellitus currently requiring insulin, but whose medical history indicates that the insulin controls the diabetes to the extent that it is not likely to cause a loss of ability to control the motor vehicle.



Classification as an American Heart Association Class I or II heart patient.



Implantation of an automated implantable cardiac defibrillator due to a sudden death event or a prophylactic reason.

Present law generally requires persons who obtain a commercial driver license, despite having one of the medical conditions described above, to operate a commercial vehicle only in this state. It also prohibits such drivers from transporting hazardous m
aterials or from operating a common carrier motor vehicle for the transporting of passengers for hire. Persons who fail to meet these requirements may have their commercial driver license suspended. A license may be suspended permanently if a person is
fo
und to have committed a serious traffic violation or reportable accident due to one of the medical conditions described above.

This bill clarifies that persons who hold a commercial driver license and are certified as medically qualified to operate a commercial vehicle are not limited to operating a commercial motor vehicle only in this state. However, the certificate must be i
ssued by a medical examiner certified by the federal motor carrier safety administration and be listed on the national registry of certified medical examiners. Persons who are certified as medically qualified are not prohibited from transporting hazardou
s
materials or from operating a common motor carrier vehicle for the transporting of passengers for hire. Such persons are not subject to a suspension of their license if they have committed a serious traffic violation or reportable accident due to the medi
cal conditions described above.

ON FEBRUARY 23, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1546, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, delete present law that prohibits a
person from being denied a commercial driver license, or being deemed medically unqualified to operate a motor vehicle, based on the failure to meet motor safety carrier regulations because o
f a medical history or clinical diagnosis of diabetes mellitus currently requiring insulin,
but whose medical history indicates that the insulin controls the diabetes to the extent that the condition is not likely to cause any loss of abili
ty to control a motor vehicle
.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1669
By Powers

HOUSE BILL 1546
By McCalmon
HB1546
010863
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 55,
Chapter 50, Part 4, relative to commercial driver
license qualifications.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 55-50-411, is amended by adding
the following as a new subsection (e):
Subsections (b) and (c) shall not apply to a person who holds a commercial
driver license and is certified as medically qualified to operate a commercial motor
vehicle pursuant to 49 CFR 391.43 if that certificate is issued by a medical examiner
certified by the federal motor carrier safety administration and listed on the national
registry of certified medical examiners in accordance with 49 CFR Part 390, Subpart D.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.