Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 23 > Chapter 1 - General Provisions

• Agricultural custom service vehicle: means a motor truck used on a farm for planting, harvesting, or transporting crops or waste products produced on the farm that is owned by a person providing custom services who is not a farmer as defined in 32 V. See
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• ASV: means any non-highway recreational vehicle, except a snowmobile, when used for cross-country travel on trails or on any one of the following or combination of the following: land, water, snow, ice, marsh, swampland, and natural terrain. See
• Auction dealer: means a person who is authorized to do business in this State and is engaged in the sale of motor vehicles at public auction subject to the provisions of sections 451, 458, 459, 463, and 466-468 of this title. See
• Autocycle: means a three-wheeled motorcycle:

• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• battery electric vehicle: means a motor vehicle that can only be powered by an electric motor drawing current from a rechargeable energy storage system; and

• Carrying capacity of a motor truck: shall be deemed to be the heaviest net load to be carried. See
• Category I special purpose vehicle: means a vehicle that is used exclusively as a back hoe, bucket loader, grader, truck shovel (wheeled excavator), street sweeper, or forklift truck. See
• Category II special purpose vehicle: means a vehicle that is used exclusively as a truck crane, wrecker, concrete form truck, concrete pumper truck, bituminous distributor, calcium chloride distributor, full or semi-flotation applicator, well driller tender truck (these vehicles may tow a pickup truck), permanently mounted well drilling machine, road oiler, water tanker used for dust control, or a truck used to transport a building by use of a "transportation dolly" as defined in subdivision 4(54) of this title. See
• Commercial fleet inspection station: shall mean a company or business that has been designated by the Commissioner as an official commercial fleet inspection station, provided it has 10 or more motor vehicles registered in the name of the company or business and meets all the requirements for designation as an official inspection station. See
• Commissioner: shall mean in this title only the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. See
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• compensation: means payment in any form except reimbursement for mileage or the normal salary paid to a person otherwise employed by the school. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Cooperative use transportation: means the collective nonprofit use by two or more persons of privately owned vehicles when providing transportation is not the primary business of the owner of the vehicle or driver of the vehicle, or both, but is incidental to his or her livelihood. See
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Dealer: means a person, partnership, corporation, or other entity engaged in the business of selling or exchanging new or used motor vehicles, snowmobiles, motorboats, or all-terrain vehicles. See
• Eight-light system: shall mean four alternately flashing red signal lamps, two at the front and two at the rear, to operate automatically when a school bus is stopped and four alternately flashing amber signal lamps, two at the front and two at the rear, to be operated by the driver at an appropriate distance before stopping the bus. See
• Electric bicycle: means a bicycle equipped with fully operable pedals, a saddle or seat for the rider, and an electric motor of less than 750 watts that meets the requirements of one of the following three classes:

• Enforcement officers: shall include :

• engaged in the business: means having sold or exchanged at least 12 cars or motor trucks, or a combination thereof, in the immediately preceding year, or 24 in the two immediately preceding years. See
• Enhanced license: means an operator's license, commercial driver's license, junior operator's license, or nondriver identification card that denotes identity and citizenship and includes facilitative technology identified by the Department of Homeland Security. See
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Farm tractor: means a traveling power plant or a self-propelled device that functions as part of crop production, harvesting, feeding, or livestock management or is used for drawing a farm trailer as defined in subdivision (69) of this section. See
• Farm trailer: means a vehicle or equipment designed and adapted exclusively for tilling, planting, harvesting, management, or for carrying inputs to or outputs from agricultural, horticultural, or livestock-raising operations, or farm equipment, without motive power, designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle, a farm truck, or a farm tractor, and, in any case, not subject to registration if used upon the highway. See
• Farm truck: means a motor truck that, at the option of the owner, may be registered under the provisions of subsection 367(f) of this title or may be unregistered when used in accordance with subsection 370(b) of this title. See
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Fresh pursuit: includes fresh pursuit as defined by the common law, and also the pursuit of a suspected violator of the criminal laws or other laws of this State, for which he or she is, or might be, subject to arrest, by an enforcement officer. See
• Intersecting highway: shall mean any highway that joins another at an angle, whether or not it crosses the other; but a driveway leading to or from private grounds shall not be interpreted to be a highway. See
• Jitney: shall include any motor vehicle, not designated for the carrying of merchandise or freight, advertised or regularly used for carrying passengers for hire, but not operating over a fixed route, including motor vehicles operated for hire in connection with a livery business, but shall not include any such vehicle that the owner thereof uses in an emergency for such purpose, nor one that an employer uses to transport his or her employees to and from their work, nor one that is used at least 75 percent of the time in the transportation of schoolchildren or under authority granted to a school board under 16 V. See
• Junior operator: shall include only such persons as are 16 and 17 years of age. See
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Motor bus: shall include any motor vehicle with a seating capacity of more than seven persons, other than a street car, operated upon the public streets and highways along a regular route, and in such operation receiving, discharging, and transporting passengers for hire. See
• Motor truck: means any motor vehicle designed primarily for the transportation of property and shall be construed to include truck tractor-semitrailer and truck tractor-semitrailer-trailer combinations. See
• Motor vehicle: includes all vehicles propelled or drawn by power other than muscular power, except farm tractors, vehicles running only upon stationary rails or tracks, motorized highway building equipment, road making appliances, snowmobiles, tracked vehicles, motor-assisted bicycles, electric bicycles, or electric personal assistive mobility devices. See
• Motor-assisted bicycle: means any bicycle or tricycle with fully operable pedals and equipped with a motor that in itself is capable of producing a top speed of not more than 20 miles per hour on a paved level surface when ridden by an operator who weighs 170 pounds and either:

  (I) has an internal combustion motor with a power output of not more than 1,000 watts or 1. See

• Motor-driven cycle: means any vehicle equipped with two or three wheels, a power source providing up to a maximum of two brake horsepower and having a maximum piston or rotor displacement of 50 cubic centimeters if a combustion engine is used, which will propel the vehicle, unassisted, at a speed not to exceed 30 miles per hour on a level road surface, and that is equipped with a power drive system that functions directly or automatically only, not requiring clutching or shifting by the operator after the drive system is engaged. See
• Motorcycle: means any motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, and includes autocycles but excludes motor-driven cycles, motor-assisted bicycles, electric bicycles, golf carts, track driven vehicles, tractors, and electric personal assistive mobility devices. See
• Motorized highway building equipment: shall include all bulldozers, rollers, scrapers, graders, spreaders, pavers, bituminous mixers, compressors, power shovels, excavators, dumpsters, concrete mixers, bucket loaders, snow loaders, rooters, and scarifiers, except road oilers and bituminous distributors, which contain as an integral part thereof and within the same unit facilities for generating motor power for propelling the same and while being used exclusively for the building, repair, or maintenance of highways, or being transported or moved from job to job in connection with the building, repair, or maintenance of highways; or, for purposes of registration only, if owned and operated by a municipality, while being used exclusively for municipal purposes; however, the town road commissioner, or comparable municipal officer, shall report annually to the legislative body of the municipality that the equipment is in good repair; tractors used exclusively as a power unit in drawing road making appliances or in the transportation of same or of such tractor from job to job in connection with the building, repair, or maintenance of highways. See
• Municipal fleet inspection station: shall mean a municipality that has been designated as an official municipal fleet inspection station, provided it has motor vehicles registered in the name of the municipality and meets all the requirements for designation as an official inspection station. See
• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
• Neighborhood electric vehicle: means a self-propelled electrically powered motor vehicle that:

• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Nonresident: shall include any person who does not come under the definition of a resident. See
• On-track equipment: means any car, locomotive, rolling stock, equipment, or other device that, alone or coupled, is operated on stationary rails. See
• Operator: shall include all persons 18 years of age or over properly licensed to operate motor vehicles. See
• Owner: shall include any person, corporation, co-partnership, or association holding legal title to a motor vehicle or having exclusive right to the use or control thereof for a period of 30 days or more. See
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Pedestrian: means any person afoot and shall also include any person 16 years of age or older operating an electric personal assistive mobility device. See
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Person: includes any natural person, corporation, association, co-partnership, company, firm, or other aggregation of individuals. See
• Personal radio frequency identification number chip: shall mean the number assigned to the transmitting chip in an enhanced license. See
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Pleasure car: shall include all motor vehicles not otherwise defined in this title. See
• plug-in hybrid electric vehicle: means a motor vehicle that can be powered by an electric motor drawing current from a rechargeable energy storage system but also has an onboard combustion engine. See
• Portable electronic device: means a portable electronic or computing device, including a cellular telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or laptop computer. See
• Privilege to operate: includes the privilege of a nonresident to operate a motor vehicle within the State and includes the privilege of a resident to obtain a license. See
• public road: shall include all parts of any bridge, culvert, roadway, street, square, fairground, or other place open temporarily or permanently to public or general circulation of vehicles, and shall include a way laid out under authority of law. See
• Repossession: includes the transport of a repossessed vehicle to a location specified by the lienholder or owner at whose direction the vehicle was repossessed. See
• Resident: as used in this title only, means any person living in the State who intends to make the State his or her principal place of domicile either permanently or for an indefinite number of years. See
• road: shall include bridges thereon and their approaches. See
• Road making appliances: shall mean all bulldozers, rollers, scrapers, graders, spreaders, pavers, retreading machines, compressors, power shovels, excavators, rock crushers, concrete mixers, snow loaders, bucket loaders, rooters, portable electric generators, pavement heaters, sweepers, steam boilers, traffic control boards, screening plants, asphalt reclaimers, and scarifiers designed to be and while being drawn by a separate motorized power unit and while being used exclusively for building, repair, or maintenance of roads or highways or while being transported from job to job in connection with the building, repair, or maintenance of roads or highways, except contractor's trailers. See
• Safety glass: shall mean any product composed of safety glazing materials so manufactured, fabricated, or treated as substantially to prevent shattering and flying when struck or broken. See
• School bus: means any motor vehicle used to transport children to or from school or in connection with school activities, except:

• Short-term rental: means a period of less than one year. See
• Specialized fuel driven motor vehicle: shall include all motor vehicles, the power for which is generated otherwise than by gasoline or by diesel "fuel" as defined in section 3002 of this title, excluding steam road rollers, tractors used entirely for work on the farm, and vehicles running only upon rails or tracks. See
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• Stiff hitch: shall mean a tow bar used by a self-propelled motor vehicle to tow another self-propelled motor vehicle while all the wheels of the towed vehicle remain in contact with the ground. See
• Storage trailer: means any regularly manufactured box type trailer that has been removed from normal over-the-highway service and is used solely for the storage of commodities at a fixed site for extended periods of time. See
• Towing business: means a person that regularly engages in one or more of the following: recovery, impoundment, transport, storage, or disposal of motor vehicles. See
• Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
• Tractor: shall include a motor vehicle designed or used primarily as a traveling power plant or for drawing other vehicles, and not so constructed as to carry any load other than a part of the weight of the vehicles and load so drawn, excepting, however, motorized highway building equipment. See
• Trailer: is a vehicle without motive power designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle, and so constructed that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle excepting, however, road making appliances and transportation dollies, and "semi-trailer" is a vehicle without motive power, designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle, and so constructed that some part of its weight and that of its load rests upon or is carried by the towing vehicle, excepting, however, pole dinkeys, transportation dollies, and road making appliances. See
• Trailer coach: shall mean any trailer or semi-trailer designed to be towed by a motor vehicle and designed, equipped, or used for sleeping, eating, or living quarters. See
• Transporter: means :

• Truck crane: shall mean a motor truck equipped with a permanently mounted hoisting apparatus, winch, or derrick, designed for the moving of objects, with no provision for carrying a load on the body of such truck crane except equipment used for the operation of a hoisting apparatus, winch, or derrick. See
• Truck tractor: shall include a motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles but so constructed as to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and load so drawn. See
• Type II school bus: means a school bus with a manufacturer's rated seating capacity of more than 10 and fewer than 16 passengers, including the operator. See
• Vulnerable user: means a pedestrian; an operator of highway building, repair, or maintenance equipment or of agricultural equipment; a person operating a wheelchair or other personal mobility device, whether motorized or not; a person operating a bicycle or other nonmotorized means of transportation (such as roller skates, rollerblades, or roller skis); a person operating a motor-assisted bicycle or an electric bicycle; or a person riding, driving, or herding an animal. See
• working day: means any calendar day except Saturday, Sunday, or any day classified as a holiday under 1 V. See
• Wrecker: shall mean a motor truck equipped with a permanently mounted hoisting apparatus, winch, or derrick, designed for moving and towing motor vehicles, with no provision for carrying a load on the body of the truck except motor vehicles, parts and equipment used for the repair of motor vehicles, and equipment used for the operation of a hoisting apparatus, winch, or derrick. See