(As Amended by Senate Amendment Schedule "A")

"AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES. "

Strike section 5 in its entirety and insert the following in lieu thereof:

"Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2008) (a) For the purposes of this section:

(1) "Alcoholic beverage" has the same meaning as provided in section 30-1 of the general statutes;

(2) "Highway" has the same meaning as provided in section 14-1 of the 2008 supplement to the general statutes;

(3) "Open alcoholic beverage container" means a bottle, can or other receptacle that (A) contains any amount of an alcoholic beverage, and (B) (i) is open or has a broken seal, or (ii) the contents of which are partially removed;

(4) "Passenger" means any occupant of a motor vehicle other than the operator; and

(5) "Passenger area" means (A) the area designed to seat the operator of and any passenger in a motor vehicle while such vehicle is being operated on a highway, or (B) any area of a motor vehicle that is readily accessible to such operator or passenger; except that, in a motor vehicle not equipped with a trunk, "passenger area" does not include a locked glove compartment, the area behind the last upright seat closest to the rear of the motor vehicle or an area not normally occupied by the operator of or passengers in such motor vehicle.

(b) No person shall possess an open alcoholic beverage container within the passenger area of a motor vehicle while such motor vehicle is on any highway or highway right-of-way in this state.

(c) The provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall not apply to: (1) Any passenger in a motor vehicle designed, maintained and primarily used for the transportation of persons for hire; (2) any passenger in the living quarters of a recreational vehicle, as defined in section 14-1 of the 2008 supplement to the general statutes; (3) any passenger in a privately-owned motor vehicle operated by a person in the course of such person's usual employment transporting passengers at the direction of such person's employer; (4) any passenger in a passenger motor vehicle, if one of such passengers is the owner or lessee of such vehicle and can establish, by means including, but not limited to, a receipt for payment made to the operator, that such operator has been hired by such owner or lessee to operate such vehicle; or (5) any passenger in a motor vehicle traveling to or from a Viking funeral, as defined in section 501 of this act.

(d) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall commit an infraction and be fined ninety dollars for a first violation, be fined two hundred dollars for a second violation and be fined five hundred dollars for any subsequent violation. "

After the last section, add the following and renumber sections and internal references accordingly:

"Sec. 501. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2008) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 7-64 and 7-69 of the general statutes, the body of a person who dies in this state may be disposed of in a Viking funeral. Such funeral may be conducted only on the Connecticut waters of Long Island Sound with natural materials. An official of the Department of Environmental Protection or the Long Island Soundkeeper shall authorize final disposition of a body given a Viking funeral. For the purposes of this section, "Viking funeral" means a ceremony in which the body of a deceased person is laid in a boat with several of his possessions and the boat is set on fire while being put out to sea. "