(A) As used in this section:

(1) "Ambulance" has the same meaning as in section 4765.01 of the Revised Code and also includes private ambulance companies under contract to a municipal corporation, township, or county.

(2) "Emergency vehicle" means any of the following:

(a) Any vehicle, as defined in section 4511.01 of the Revised Code, that is an emergency vehicle of a municipal, township, or county department or public utility corporation and that is identified as such as required by law, the director of public safety, or local authorities;

(b) Any motor vehicle, as defined in section 4511.01 of the Revised Code, when commandeered by a police officer;

(c) Any vehicle, as defined in section 4511.01 of the Revised Code, that is an emergency vehicle of a qualified nonprofit corporation police department established pursuant to section 1702.80 of the Revised Code and that is identified as an emergency vehicle;

(d) Any vehicle, as defined in section 4511.01 of the Revised Code, that is an emergency vehicle of a proprietary police department or security department of a hospital operated by a public hospital agency or a nonprofit hospital agency that employs police officers under section 4973.17 of the Revised Code, and that is identified as an emergency vehicle.

(3) "Firefighter" means any regular, paid, member of a lawfully constituted fire department of a municipal corporation or township.

(4) "Law enforcement officer" means any of the following:

(a) A sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, marshal, deputy marshal, municipal police officer, police officer of a township or joint police district, state highway patrol trooper, or member of a police force employed by a metropolitan housing authority under division (D) of section 3735.31 of the Revised Code;

(b) A police officer employed by a qualified nonprofit police department pursuant to section 1702.80 of the Revised Code, or police officer employed by a proprietary police department or security department of a hospital operated by a public hospital agency or nonprofit hospital agency pursuant to section 4973.17 of the Revised Code;

(c) An officer, agent, or employee of the state or any of its agencies, instrumentalities, or political subdivisions, upon whom, by statute, a duty to conserve the peace or to enforce all or certain laws is imposed and the authority to arrest violators is conferred, within the limits of that statutory duty and authority;

(d) A veterans' home police officer appointed under section 5907.02 of the Revised Code;

(e) A member of a police force employed by a regional transit authority under division (Y) of section 306.35 of the Revised Code.

(5) "Motor vehicle accident" means any accident involving a motor vehicle which results in bodily injury to any person, or damage to the property of any person.

(6) "Investigator" means an investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation as defined in section 2903.11 of the Revised Code.

(B) No insurer shall consider the circumstance that an applicant or policyholder has been involved in a motor vehicle accident while in the pursuit of the applicant's or policyholder's official duties as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, investigator, or operator of an emergency vehicle or ambulance, while operating a vehicle engaged in mowing or snow and ice removal as a county, township, or department of transportation employee, or while operating a vehicle while engaged in the pursuit of the applicant's or policyholder's official duties as a member of the motor carrier enforcement unit of the state highway patrol under section 5503.34 of the Revised Code, as a basis for doing either of the following:

(1) Refusing to issue or deliver a policy of insurance upon a private automobile, or increasing the rate to be charged for such a policy;

(2) Increasing the premium rate, canceling, or failing to renew an existing policy of insurance upon a private automobile.

(C) Any applicant or policyholder affected by an action of an insurer in violation of this section may appeal to the superintendent of insurance. After a hearing held upon not less than ten days' notice to the applicant or policyholder and to the insurer and if the superintendent determines that the insurer has violated this section, the superintendent may direct the issuance of a policy, decrease the premium rate on a policy, or reinstate insurance coverage.

(D) The employer of the law enforcement officer, firefighter, investigator, or operator of an emergency vehicle or ambulance, operator of a vehicle engaged in mowing or snow and ice removal, or operator of a vehicle who is a member of the motor carrier enforcement unit, except as otherwise provided in division (F) of this section, shall certify to the state highway patrol or law enforcement agency that investigates the accident whether the officer, firefighter, investigator, or operator of an emergency vehicle or ambulance, operator of a vehicle engaged in mowing or snow and ice removal, or operator of a vehicle who is a member of the motor carrier enforcement unit, was engaged in the performance of the person's official duties as such employee at the time of the accident. The employer shall designate an official authorized to make the certifications. The state highway patrol or law enforcement agency shall include the certification in any report of the accident forwarded to the department of public safety pursuant to sections 5502.11 and 5502.12 of the Revised Code and shall forward the certification to the department if received after the report of the accident has been forwarded to the department. The registrar of motor vehicles shall not include an accident in a certified abstract of information under division (A) of section 4509.05 of the Revised Code, if the person involved has been so certified as having been engaged in the performance of the person's official duties at the time of the accident.

(E) Division (B) of this section does not apply to an insurer whose policy covers the motor vehicle at the time the motor vehicle is involved in an accident described in division (B) of this section.

(F) Division (B) of this section does not apply if an applicant or policyholder, on the basis of the applicant's or policyholder's involvement in an accident described in that division, is convicted of or pleads guilty or no contest to a violation of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code or a municipal OVI ordinance as defined in section 4511.181 of the Revised Code.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.28, HB 153, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2011.

Amended by 128th General AssemblyFile No.9, HB 1, §101.01, eff. 10/16/2009.

Effective Date: 07-29-1998; 09-16-2004; 08-17-2006