Operation prohibited when insurance coverage fails to meet minimum requirements. Penalty. Evidence of insurance coverage required to restore suspended license

(a) No owner of any private passenger motor vehicle or a vehicle with a combination or commercial registration, as defined in section 14-1, registered or required to be registered in this state may operate or permit the operation of such vehicle without the security required by section 38a-371 or with security insufficient to meet the minimum requirements of said section, or without any other security requirements imposed by law, as the case may be. Failure of the operator to produce an insurance identification card as required by section 14-217 shall constitute prima facie evidence that the owner has not maintained the security required by section 38a-371 and this section. A law enforcement officer may access the Online Insurance Verification System established in accordance with section 14-112a to determine whether an owner or operator has the required security. (b) Any person convicted of violating any provision of subsection (a) of this section shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars or more than one thousand dollars, except that any owner of a motor vehicle with a commercial registration who knowingly violates the provisions of subsection (a) of this section with respect to such vehicle shall be guilty of a class D felony. (c) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall suspend the registration, and the operator's license, if any, of an owner, for a first conviction of violating the provisions of subsection (a) of this section for a period of one month and for a second or subsequent conviction for a period of six months. No operator's license which has been suspended pursuant to this subsection shall be restored until the owner has provided evidence to the commissioner that he maintains the security required by section 38a-371 or any other security requirements imposed by law for each motor vehicle registered in his name.