Chapter
308
2004 -- H 7933 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/03/04
A N A C T
RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES
Introduced By:
Representatives T Brien, Laroche, Menard, and Winfield
Date
Introduced: February 12, 2004
It is enacted by the General
Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Section 31-1-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-1 entitled
"Definitions
and General Code Provisions"
is hereby amended to read as follows:
31-1-3.
Types of vehicles. -- (a) (1) "Antique motor car" means any
motor vehicle which
is more than twenty-five (25) years
old. Unless fully inspected and meeting inspection
requirements, the vehicle may be
maintained solely for use in exhibitions, club activities, parades,
and other functions of public
interest and may not be used primarily for the transportation of
passengers or goods over any public
highway;
(2)
After the vehicle has met the requirements of state inspection, a registration
plate
may be issued to it on payment of
the standard fee. The vehicle may be operated on the highways
of this and other states, and may
in addition to the registration plate retain the designation
"antique" and display an
"antique plate".
(b)
(1) "Antique motorcycle" means any motorcycle which is more than
twenty-five (25)
years old. Unless fully inspected
and meeting inspection requirements, the vehicle shall be
maintained solely for use in
exhibitions, club activities, parades, and other functions of public
interest and may not be used
primarily for the transportation of passengers or goods over any
public highway;
(2)
After the vehicle has met the requirements of state inspection, a registration
plate
may be issued to it on payment of
the standard fee, and the vehicle may be operated on the
highways of this and other states,
and may in addition to the registration plate retain the
designation "antique" and
display an "antique plate".
(c)
"Authorized emergency vehicle" means vehicles of the fire department
(fire patrol),
police vehicles, vehicles used by
Rhode Island state marshals in the department of corrections,
vehicles used by the state bomb
squad within the division of state fire marshal, vehicles of
municipal departments or public
service corporations designated or authorized by the
administrator as ambulances and
emergency vehicles; and privately owned motor vehicles of
volunteer firefighters or privately
owned motor vehicles of volunteer ambulance drivers or
attendants, as authorized by the department
chief or commander and permitted by the Rhode
Island association of fire chiefs
and Rhode Island association of police chiefs joint committee for
volunteer warning light permits.
(d)
"Automobile" means, for registration purposes, every motor vehicle
carrying
passengers other than for hire.
(e)
"Bicycle" means every vehicle having two (2) tandem wheels, except
scooters and
similar devices, propelled
exclusively by human power, and upon which a person may ride.
(f)
"Electric motorized bicycles" means a motorized bicycle which may be
propelled by
human power or electric motor
power, or by both, with an electric motor rated not more than two
(2) (S.A.E.) horsepower, which is
capable of a maximum speed of not more than twenty-five (25)
miles per hour.
(g)
"Electric personal assistive mobility device" ("EPAMD") is
a self-balancing two (2)
non-tandem wheeled device, designed
to transport only one person, with an electric propulsion
system which limits the maximum
speed of the device to fifteen (15) miles per hour.
(h)
"Hearse" means every motor vehicle used for transporting human
corpses. A hearse
shall be considered an automobile
for registration purposes.
(i)
"Jitney or bus" means: (1) a "public bus" which includes
every motor vehicle, trailer,
semi-trailer, tractor trailer, or
tractor trailer combination, used for the transportation of passengers
for hire, and operated wholly or in
part upon any street or highway as a means of transportation
similar to that afforded by a
street railway company, by indiscriminately receiving or discharging
passengers, or running on a regular
route or over any portion of one, or between fixed termini; or
(2) a "private bus" which
includes every motor vehicle other than a public bus or passenger van
designed for carrying more than ten
(10) passengers and used for the transportation of persons,
and every motor vehicle other than
a taxicab designed and used for the transportation of persons
for compensation.
(j)
"Motorcycle" means only those motor vehicles having not more than
three (3) wheels
in contact with the ground and a
saddle on which the driver sits astride, except bicycles with
helper motors as defined in
subsection ( l ) of this section.
(k) "Motor-driven
cycle" means every motorcycle, including every motor scooter, with a
motor of no greater than five (5)
horsepower, except bicycles with helper motors as defined in
subsection ( l ) of this section.
(l)
"Motorized bicycles" means two (2) wheel vehicles which may be
propelled by
human power or helper power, or by
both, with a motor rated not more than one and one-half
(1.5) brake horsepower or two (2)
(S.A.E.) horsepower which is capable of a maximum speed of
not more than thirty (30) miles per
hour.
(m)
"Motorized camper" means a portable dwelling designed and constructed
as an
integral part of a
self-propelled vehicle used as a temporary dwelling for travel, camping,
recreational, and vacation use, and
which is eligible to be registered for highway use.
(n)
(m) "Motorized tricycles" means tricycles which may be
propelled by human power
or helper motor, or by both, with a
motor rated no more than 1.5 brake horsepower which is
capable of a maximum speed of not
more than thirty (30) miles per hour.
(o)
(n) Motorized wheelchair" means any self-propelled vehicle,
designed for and used
by a person with a disability, that
is incapable of speed in excess of eight (8) miles per hour.
(p)
(o) "Motor vehicle" means every vehicle which is
self-propelled or propelled by
electric power obtained from
overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails, except vehicles
moved exclusively by human power,
an EPAMD and electric motorized bicycles as defined in
subsection (f) of this section, and
motorized wheelchairs.
(q)
(p) "Motor vehicle for hire" means every motor vehicle other
than jitneys, public
buses, hearses, and motor vehicles
used chiefly in connection with the conduct of funerals, to
transport persons for compensation
in any form, or motor vehicles rented for transporting persons
either with or without furnishing
an operator.
(r)
(q) "Passenger van" means every motor vehicle capable of
carrying ten (10) to
fourteen (14) passengers plus an
operator and used for personal use or on a not-for-hire basis.
Passenger vans may be used for
vanpools, transporting passengers to and from work locations,
provided that the operator receives
no remuneration other than free use of the vehicle.
(s)
(r) "Pedal carriages" (also known as "quadricycles")
means a nonmotorized bicycle
with four (4) or more wheels
operated by one or more persons for the purpose of, or capable of,
transporting additional passengers
in seats or on a platform made a part of or otherwise attached
to the pedal carriage. The term
shall not include a bicycle with trainer or beginner wheels affixed
to it, nor shall it include a
wheelchair or other vehicle with the purpose of operation by or for the
transportation of a handicapped
person, nor shall it include a tricycle built for a child or an adult
with a seat for only one operator
and no passenger.
(t)
"Pick-up coach or pick-up camper" means a structure designed
primarily to be
mounted on a pick-up or truck
chassis and with sufficient equipment to render it suitable for use
as a temporary dwelling for
travel, camping, recreational, and vacation uses, and which is eligible
to be registered for highway
use.
(u)
(s) "Rickshaws" (also known as "pedi cabs") means a
nonmotorized bicycle with
three (3) wheels operated by one
person for the purpose of, or capable of, transporting additional
passengers in seats or on a
platform made a part of or otherwise attached to the rickshaw. This
definition shall not include a
bicycle built for two (2) where the operators are seated one behind
the other, nor shall it include the
operation of a bicycle with trainer or beginner wheels affixed
thereto, nor shall it include a
wheelchair or other vehicle with the purpose of operation by or for
the transportation of a handicapped
person.
(v)
(t) "School bus" means every motor vehicle owned by a public
or governmental
agency, when operated for the
transportation of children to or from school; or privately owned,
when operated for compensation for
the transportation of children to or from school.
(w)
(u) "Suburban vehicle" means every motor vehicle with a
convertible or
interchangeable body or with
removable seats, usable for both passenger and delivery purposes,
and including motor vehicles
commonly known as station or depot wagons or any vehicle into
which access can be gained through
the rear by means of a hatch or trunk and where the rear seats
can be folded down to permit the
carrying of articles as well as passengers.
(x)
"Tent trailer" means a canvas, folding structure, mounted on wheels
but not self-
propelled, used as a temporary
dwelling for travel, camping, recreational, and vacation uses, and
which is eligible to be
registered for highway use.
(y)
(v) "Trackless trolley coach" means every motor vehicle which
is propelled by
electric power obtained from
overhead trolley wires, but not operated on rails.
(z)
(w) "Travel trailer" means a vehicular structure built on a
chassis, portable but not
self-propelled, designed to be
used as a temporary dwelling for travel, camping, recreational, and
vacation uses, and when equipped
for the road has a body width not exceeding eight feet (8') and
which is eligible to be registered
for highway use. "Camping
recreational vehicle" means a
vehicular type camping unit,
certified by the manufacturer as complying with ANSI A119.2
Standards designed primarily as
temporary living quarters for recreation that has either its own
motive power or is mounted on or
towed by another vehicle. The basic units are tent trailers, fifth
wheel trailers, motorized
campers, travel trailers, and pick-up campers.
(aa)
(x) "Vehicle" means every device in, upon, or by which any person
or property is or
may be transported or drawn upon a
highway, except devices used exclusively upon stationary
rails or tracks.
(y)
Tent trailer: A towable recreational vehicle, that is mounted on wheels and
constructed with collapsible
partial side walls that fold for towing by another vehicle and unfold
for use and which is eligible to
be registered for highway use.
(z)
Fifth wheel trailer: A towable recreational vehicle, not exceeding four hundred
(400)
square feet in area, designed to
be towed by a motorized vehicle that contains a towing
mechanism that is mounted above
or forward of the tow vehicle’s rear axle and which is eligible
to be registered for highway
use.
(aa)
Motorized camper: A camping recreational vehicle, built on or permanently
attached
to a self-propelled motor
vehicle chassis cab or van that is an integral part of the completed
vehicle.
(bb)
Travel trailer: A towable recreational vehicle, not exceeding three hundred
twenty
(320) square feet in area, designed
to be towed by a motorized vehicle containing a towing
mechanism that is mounted behind
the tow vehicle’s bumper and which is eligible to be
registered for highway use.
(cc)
Pick-up camper: A camping recreational vehicle consisting of a roof, floor, and
sides
designed to be loaded onto and
unloaded from the back of a pick-up truck.
(dd)
Park trailer: A camping recreational vehicle that is eligible to be registered
for
highway use and meets the
following criteria: (i) built on a single chassis mounted on wheels; and
(ii) certified by the
manufacturer as complying with ANSI A119.5.
SECTION
2. Sections 31-25-3 and 31-25-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-25
entitled "Size, Weight, and
Load Limits" are hereby amended to read as follows:
31-25-3.
Maximum width. -- The total outside width of any vehicle or the load on
it
shall not exceed one hundred two
inches (102") excluding any safety and noncargo carrying
appurtenances on either
motorized campers or camping recreational vehicles. Violations of this
section are subject to fines
enumerated in section 31-41.1-4.
31-25-5.
Maximum length of single vehicle and load. -- No vehicle, including any
load
on it, except Rhode Island public transit
authority articulated buses, shall exceed a length of forty
feet (40') extreme overall
dimension inclusive of front and rear bumpers, or in the case of a motor
bus, motorized camper or camping
recreational vehicle forty-five feet (45').
SECTION
3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01863/SUB A
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