Sec. 2. (a) The Indiana department of transportation may grant a permit to operate a special tractor-mobile home rig on a highway to a person upon the following conditions and in accordance with the rules that the department prescribes:

(1) The special tractor-mobile home rig must be operated in a manner that will not unduly impede traffic or increase the hazard to traffic.

(2) The special tractor-mobile home rig may be operated only over the highways in the state highway system, including, except as provided in section 5 of this chapter, the routes designated as federal highways and the state maintained routes through cities and towns. However, the special tractor-mobile home rig may not extend over the lines delineating highway lanes into another lane except when passing.

(3) The special tractor-mobile home rig may be operated on the roads and highways only after sunrise and before sunset. However, the Indiana Department of Transportation may restrict hours of operation in first and second class cities if the department determines that rush hour traffic would cause an undue hazard to the motoring public.

(4) The special tractor-mobile home rig may be operated only on days other than Sunday and the legal holidays that the Indiana Department of Transportation designates. The special tractor-mobile home rig may be operated between one-half (1/2) hour before sunrise and one-half (1/2) hour after sunset on any weekday and between one-half (1/2) hour before sunrise and noon on Saturday.

(5) The special tractor-mobile home rig may be accompanied by a distinctively marked escort vehicle.

(6) The operator of the special tractor-mobile home rig must be at least eighteen (18) years of age.

(7) The low beam headlights of the towing vehicle for which the permit is granted must be on while the vehicle is in use as a towing vehicle component of a special tractor-mobile home rig.

(8) The special tractor-mobile home rig may not be operated closer than one thousand (1,000) feet to any other special tractor-mobile home rig traveling in the same direction.

(9) Whenever there may be a clear roadway ahead of the special tractor-mobile home rig and more than three (3) vehicles immediately behind the tractor-mobile home rig, the operator of a special tractor-mobile home rig shall pull over to the right of the traveled portion of the road or highway at the first opportunity to do so safely, so as to allow following vehicles to pass.

(10) The special tractor-mobile home rig may not be operated at a speed in excess of fifty-five (55) miles per hour on roads and highways, other than divided highways of at least four (4) lanes, except as otherwise provided by law.

(11) The special tractor-mobile home rig may not be operated as follows:

(A) During the existence of hazardous weather conditions causing visibility to be less than five hundred (500) feet.

(B) During times when the steady wind velocity exceeds twenty-five (25) miles per hour.

(C) At other times and under other conditions that the Indiana Department of Transportation by rule or emergency notice prescribes.

(12) The person to whom the permit is granted shall present satisfactory evidence of the person’s financial responsibility as provided in IC 9-25 to the granting authority.

(13) When in use as a towing vehicle component of a special tractor-mobile home rig, the towing vehicle for which the permit is granted must have an overall length of not less than twelve (12) feet.

(14) A permit granted for the towing vehicle component of a special tractor-mobile home rig may be suspended or revoked by the Indiana Department of Transportation for violation of any of the conditions of the permit set forth in this section or for violation of a rule or notice as provided for in this chapter.

(15) The special tractor-mobile home rig may be operated only over roads or highways approved by the authority granting the permits.

(16) The rules pertaining to special tractor-mobile home rigs do not apply to other vehicles.

     (b) This section may not be construed to prevent a local authority with respect to highways and roads under the authority’s jurisdiction from granting permission to operate a special tractor-mobile home rig on roads and highways under the authority’s jurisdiction that are not highways in the state highway system or state maintained routes through cities and towns.

[Pre-1991 Recodification Citation: 9-8-1.6-3.]

As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.8. Amended by P.L.125-1993, SEC.2; P.L.119-1995, SEC.5; P.L.217-2003, SEC.4; P.L.198-2016, SEC.355.