Bill Text: MS HB64 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: All-terrain vehicles; prohibit the operation of on public highways, roads and streets.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Failed) 2010-02-02 - Died In Committee [HB64 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2010-HB64-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2010 Regular Session
To: Transportation
By: Representative Mayo
House Bill 64
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT THE OPERATION OF ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLES ON PUBLIC HIGHWAYS, ROADS AND STREETS; TO CREATE A PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS OF THIS ACT; TO AMEND SECTIONS 63-1-75, 63-2-1, 63-3-103 AND 63-15-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) It is unlawful for any person to operate an all-terrain vehicle on a public highway, road or street. The provisions of this subsection (1) shall not apply to law enforcement personnel or other emergency workers.
(2) Any person who violates this provision, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per offense.
(3) As used in this section, "all-terrain vehicle" or "ATV," means any motorized vehicle manufactured and designed exclusively for off-road use that is fifty (50) inches or less in width, has an unladen dry weight of seven hundred fifty (750) pounds or less, travels on three (3), four (4) or more low pressure tires, has a seat designed to be straddled by the operator and uses handlebars for steering control.
SECTION 2. Section 63-1-75, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-1-75. The following words, as used in this article, shall have the meanings herein ascribed unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(a) "Alcohol" means any substance containing any form of alcohol including, but not limited to, ethanol, methanol, propanol and isopropanol;
(b) "Alcohol concentration" means the concentration of alcohol in a person's blood, breath or urine. When expressed as a percentage it means:
(i) The number of grams of alcohol per one hundred (100) milliliters of blood; or
(ii) The number of grams of alcohol per two hundred ten (210) liters of breath; or
(iii) The number of grams of alcohol per sixty-seven (67) milliliters of urine;
(c) "Commercial driver's license" means a license issued in accordance with the requirements of this article to an individual which authorizes the individual to drive a Class A, B or C commercial motor vehicle;
(d) "Commercial Driver License Information System" means the information system established pursuant to the CMVSA to serve as a clearinghouse for locating information related to the licensing and identification of commercial motor vehicle drivers;
(e) "Commercial driver instruction permit" means a permit issued pursuant to Section 63-1-79;
(f) "Commercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle designed or used to transport passengers or property:
(i) If the vehicle has a gross vehicle weight rating of twenty-six thousand one (26,001) or more pounds, or such lesser rating as determined by applicable federal regulations; or
(ii) If the vehicle is designed to transport sixteen (16) or more passengers, including the driver; or
(iii) If the vehicle is transporting hazardous materials and is required to be placarded in accordance with the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, 49 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 172, Subpart F;
(g) "Controlled substance" means any substance so classified under Section 102(6) of the Controlled Substances Act, 21 USCS 802(6), and includes all substances listed on Schedules I through V of 21 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 1308, as they may be revised from time to time, any substance so classified under Sections 41-29-113 through 41-29-121, Mississippi Code of 1972, and any other substance which would impair a person's ability to operate a motor vehicle;
(h) "Conviction" means an unvacated adjudication of guilt, or a determination that a person has violated or failed to comply with the law in a court of original jurisdiction or an authorized administrative tribunal, an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the person's appearance in court, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere accepted by the court or tribunal, the payment of a fine or court cost, or violation of a condition of release without bail, regardless of whether or not the penalty is rebated, suspended or probated;
(i) "Disqualification" means a withdrawal of the privilege to drive a commercial motor vehicle, including a suspension, cancellation or revocation of a person's driver's license or driving privileges and an out-of-service order;
(j) "Drive" means to drive, operate or be in physical control of a motor vehicle;
(k) "Driver" means any person who drives, operates or is in physical control of a commercial motor vehicle or who is required to hold a commercial driver's license;
(l) "Driver's license" means a license issued by a state to an individual which authorizes the individual to drive a motor vehicle;
(m) "Felony" means any offense under state or federal law that is punishable by death or imprisonment for a term of one (1) year or more;
(n) "Foreign jurisdiction" means any jurisdiction other than a state or the United States;
(o) "Gross vehicle weight rating" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the maximum loaded weight of a single or a combination (articulated) vehicle, or registered gross weight, whichever is greater. The gross vehicle weight rating of a combination (articulated) vehicle (commonly referred to as the "gross combination weight rating") is the gross vehicle weight rating of the power unit plus the gross vehicle weight rating of the towed unit or units;
(p) "Hazardous materials" has the meaning as that found in Section 103 of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, 49 Appx. USCS 1801 et seq.;
(q) "Motor vehicle" means every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires but not operated upon rails, except vehicles moved solely by human power, motorized wheelchairs, electric assistive mobility devices, as * * * defined in Section 63-3-103, and all-terrain vehicles, as defined in Section 1 of this act;
(r) "Nonresident commercial driver's license" means a commercial driver's license issued by a state to an individual who resides in a foreign jurisdiction;
(s) "Out-of-service order" means a temporary prohibition against driving a commercial motor vehicle;
(t) "Serious traffic violation" means a conviction when operating a motor vehicle of:
(i) Excessive speeding, involving a single charge of any speed fifteen (15) miles per hour or more above the posted speed limit or such other minimum speed above the posted speed limit as prescribed by the CMVSA or federal regulations promulgated pursuant thereto;
(ii) Reckless driving as defined under state or local law;
(iii) Improper or erratic traffic lane changes;
(iv) Following the vehicle ahead too closely;
(v) A violation of any state or local law related to motor vehicle traffic control resulting in a fatal accident other than a parking violation, a vehicle weight violation or a vehicle defect;
(vi) Operating a commercial motor vehicle without obtaining a commercial driver's license;
(vii) Operating a commercial motor vehicle without a commercial driver's license in the driver's possession;
(viii) Operating a commercial motor vehicle without the proper class of commercial driver's license and/or endorsements for the specific vehicle group being operated or for the passengers or type of cargo being transported; and
(ix) Any other violation of a state or local law which the United States Secretary of Transportation determines by regulation to be a serious traffic violation under the CMVSA;
(u) "State" means a state of the United States and the District of Columbia;
(v) "United States" means the fifty (50) states and the District of Columbia.
SECTION 3. Section 63-2-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-2-1. (1) When a passenger motor vehicle is operated in forward motion on a public road, street or highway within this state, every operator, every front-seat passenger and every child under seven (7) years of age who is not required to be protected by the use of a child passenger restraint device or system or a belt positioning booster seat system under the provisions of Sections 63-7-301 through 63-7-311, regardless of the seat that the child occupies, shall wear a properly fastened safety seat belt system, required to be installed in the vehicle when manufactured pursuant to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208.
(2) "Passenger motor vehicle" for purposes of this chapter means a motor vehicle designed to carry fifteen (15) or fewer passengers, including the driver, but does not include motorcycles, mopeds, all-terrain vehicles, as defined in Section 1 of this act, or trailers.
(3) This section shall not apply to:
(a) Vehicles which may be registered for "farm" use, including "implements of husbandry" as defined in Section 63-21-5(d), and "farm tractors" as defined in Section 63-3-105(a);
(b) An operator or passenger possessing a written verification from a licensed physician that he is unable to wear a safety belt system for medical reasons;
(c) A passenger car operated by a rural letter carrier of the United States Postal Service or by a utility meter reader while on duty; or
(d) Buses.
SECTION 4. Section 63-3-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-3-103. (a) "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.
(b) "Motor vehicle" means every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails. The term "motor vehicle" shall not include electric personal assistive mobility devices or all-terrain vehicles.
(c) "Motorcycle" means every motor vehicle having a saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three (3) wheels in contact with the ground but excluding a tractor.
(d) "Authorized emergency vehicle" means every vehicle of the fire department (fire patrol), every police vehicle, every 911 Emergency Communications District vehicle, every such ambulance and special use EMS vehicle as defined in Section 41-59-3, and every emergency vehicle of municipal departments or public service corporations as is designated or authorized by the commission or the chief of police of an incorporated city.
(e) "School bus" means every motor vehicle operated for the transportation of children to or from any school, provided same is plainly marked "School Bus" on the front and rear thereof and meets the requirements of the State Board of Education as authorized under Section 37-41-1.
(f) "Recreational vehicle" means a vehicular type unit primarily designed as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping or travel use, which either has its own motive power or is mounted on or drawn by another vehicle and includes travel trailers, fifth wheel trailers, camping trailers, truck campers and motor homes.
(g) "Motor home" means a motor vehicle that is designed and constructed primarily to provide temporary living quarters for recreational, camping or travel use.
(h) "Electric assistive mobility device" means a self-balancing two-tandem wheeled device, designed to transport only one (1) person, with an electric propulsion system that limits the maximum speed of the device to fifteen (15) miles per hour.
(i) "All-terrain vehicle" or "ATV" means any motorized vehicle manufactured and designed exclusively for off-road use that is fifty (50) inches or less in width, has an unladen dry weight of seven hundred fifty (750) pounds or less, travels on three (3), four (4) or more low pressure tires, has a seat designed to be straddled by the operator and uses handlebars for steering control.
SECTION 5. Section 63-15-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-15-3. The following words and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall, for the purposes of this chapter, have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section, except in those instances where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(a) "Highway" means the entire width between property lines of any road, street, way, thoroughfare or bridge in the State of Mississippi not privately owned or controlled, when any part thereof is open to the public for vehicular traffic and over which the state has legislative jurisdiction under its police power.
(b) "Judgment" means any judgment which shall have become final by expiration, without appeal, of the time within which an appeal might have been perfected, or by final affirmation on appeal, rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction of any state or of the United States, upon a cause of action arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of any motor vehicle, for damages, including damages for care and loss of services, because of bodily injury to or death of any person, or for damages because of injury to or destruction of property, including the loss of use thereof, or upon a cause of action on an agreement of settlement for such damages.
(c) "Motor vehicle" means every self-propelled vehicle (other than traction engines, road rollers and graders, tractor cranes, power shovels, well drillers, implements of husbandry, all-terrain vehicles as defined in Section 1 of this act, and electric personal assistive mobility device as defined in Section 63-3-103) which is designed for use upon a highway, including trailers and semitrailers designed for use with such vehicles, and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead wires but not operated upon rails.
For purposes of this definition, "implements of husbandry" shall not include trucks, pickup trucks, trailers and semitrailers designed for use with such trucks and pickup trucks.
(d) "License" means any driver's, operator's, commercial operator's, or chauffeur's license, temporary instruction permit or temporary license, or restricted license, issued under the laws of the State of Mississippi pertaining to the licensing of persons to operate motor vehicles.
(e) "Nonresident" means every person who is not a resident of the State of Mississippi.
(f) "Nonresident's operating privilege" means the privilege conferred upon a nonresident by the laws of Mississippi pertaining to the operation by him of a motor vehicle, or the use of a motor vehicle owned by him, in the State of Mississippi.
(g) "Operator" means every person who is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle.
(h) "Owner" means a person who holds the legal title of a motor vehicle; in the event a motor vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then such conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this chapter.
(i) "Person" means every natural person, firm, copartnership, association or corporation.
(j) "Proof of financial responsibility" means proof of ability to respond in damages for liability, on account of accidents occurring subsequent to the effective date of said proof, arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of a motor vehicle, in the amount of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) because of bodily injury to or death of one (1) person in any one (1) accident, and subject to said limit for one (1) person, in the amount of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) because of bodily injury to or death of two (2) or more persons in any one (1) accident, and in the amount of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) because of injury to or destruction of property of others in any one (1) accident.
(k) "Registration" means a certificate or certificates and registration plates issued under the laws of this state pertaining to the registration of motor vehicles.
(l) "Department" means the Department of Public Safety of the State of Mississippi, acting directly or through its authorized officers and agents, except in such sections of this chapter in which some other state department is specifically named.
(m) "State" means any state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any province of the Dominion of Canada.
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.
