Registration of motor vehicles; liability insurance, failure to maintain; revocation of certificate of registration; exemptions; school buses
M.G.L. c. 90, § 1A
in effectc. 90, § 1A. Registration of motor vehicles; liability insurance, failure to maintain; revocation of certificate of registration; exemptions; school buses
Section 1A. No motor vehicle or trailer, except one owned by a person, firm or corporation, for the operation of which security is required to be furnished under section six of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine A, or one owned by a person, firm or corporation subject to the supervision and control of the department of telecommunications and energy, except supervision and control under chapter one hundred and fifty-nine B, as to which said department has issued a certificate as hereinafter described, or one owned by a street railway company under public control, or by the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof or the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority or the Massachusetts Port Authority, shall be registered under sections two to five, inclusive, unless the application therefor is accompanied by a certificate as defined in section thirty-four A or unless the registrar is otherwise satisfied that the provisions of compulsory motor vehicle liability insurance, have been met for such applicant and vehicle. The registrar may revoke without a hearing any certificate of registration if he is satisfied that the certificate, as defined in said section thirty-four A, accompanying the registration application has not been maintained for a period at least coterminous with that of any registration he may have issued in connection with a registration application. Said department shall issue a certificate hereinabove mentioned upon the filing of a bond, satisfactory to the department in form and amount, covering all motor vehicles and trailers of the obligor for which application for registration may be made, containing the condition of a motor vehicle liability bond, as defined in section thirty-four A, except as to amount, which bond shall, upon a showing to said department's satisfaction of the obligor's financial ability, be without surety. Such a certificate shall also be issued by said department upon presentation to it of satisfactory evidence of adequate personal injury liability insurance providing indemnity or protection equal to motor vehicle liability policies, as defined in said section thirty-four A. Such certificate, when issued by said department, shall be filed with the registrar. Ambulances owned and operated by any hospital or other institution or association supported wholly or in part by public or private donations for charitable purposes, and motor vehicles and trailers used by the fire or police department of any city or town or park board solely for the official business of such department or board shall not be subject to the requirements of this section.
No motor vehicle used as a school bus, except a vehicle so used under contract with a city or town and insured as provided in section four of chapter forty of the General Laws, or a vehicle for the operation of which security is required to be furnished under section six of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine A, shall be registered under sections two to five, inclusive, unless the policy or bond as defined in section thirty-four A, or the binder as described in the definition of ''certificate'' in said section provides indemnity, protection or security in the case of any one accident resulting in injury to or death of more than one person up to the amount of fifty thousand dollars.
No school bus shall be originally registered in the name of an applicant for registration under sections two to five, inclusive, unless the chassis model year is nineteen hundred and seventy-seven or any subsequent model year.
The registrar may refuse to accept an application for registration when the application is not accompanied by proof of payment, in the form prescribed by the United States Department of the Treasury, that the federal heavy vehicle use tax imposed by section 4481 of the Internal Revenue Code has been paid.
Source: Massachusetts General Court (malegislature.gov)URL: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIV/Chapter90/Section1AFetched: 10/20/2026