Montana Code 61-8-705. Officers or highway patrol officers authorized to remove illegally stopped vehicles
61-8-705. Officers or highway patrol officers authorized to remove illegally stopped vehicles. (1) Whenever any police officer or highway patrol officer finds a vehicle standing upon a highway in violation of any of the provisions of 61-8-353 through 61-8-355, such officer or highway patrol officer is hereby authorized to move such vehicle or require the driver or other person in charge of the vehicle to move the same to a position off the paved or main-traveled part of such highway.
Terms Used In Montana Code 61-8-705
- Driver: means a person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Highway: has the meaning provided in 61-1-101, but includes ways that have been or are later dedicated to public use. See Montana Code 61-8-102
- Highway patrol officer: means a state officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of traffic regulations. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, state agency, local government unit, another state government, the United States, a political subdivision of this or another state, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Police officer: means an officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of traffic regulations. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Roadway: means the portion of a highway that is improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, including the paved shoulder. See Montana Code 61-8-102
- Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars, and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highways for purposes of travel. See Montana Code 61-1-101
- Vehicle: means a device in, on, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn on a public highway, except devices moved by animal power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Montana Code 61-1-101
(2)Whenever any police officer or highway patrol officer finds a vehicle unattended upon any bridge or roadway or in any tunnel where such vehicle constitutes an obstruction to traffic, such officer or highway patrol officer is hereby authorized to provide for the removal of such vehicle pursuant to Title 61, chapter 12, part 4, except that the time limits imposed in 61-12-401 do not apply to removal under this subsection.