Title 32 — Title 32

Etc., When Number Altered, Etc.; Disposition of Forfeited Property. (a) A person who willfully removes or falsifies an identification number of a vehicle, engine, transmission or other identifiable component part of a vehicle is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and shall be punish…

Removal of Identification Numbers, Plates, Etc.; Transfer of Salvage Vehicles; Inspections; “Component Parts”; Rebuilt Vehicles; Flood Vehicles; Online Verifications. (a)(1) Each owner of a motor vehicle and each person mentioned as owner in the last certificate of title who scra…

Forfeiture Sale. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply: (1) A theft facility means any area, building, storage lot, field, or any other premises or place where one or more persons are engaged in altering, dismantling, reassembling or in any w…

The department shall provide each designated agent with the forms and rules and regulations provided for in this chapter. History: (Acts 1973, No. 765, p. 1147, §48; Act 2009-281, p. 472, §1.)

Trailers, when used in a truck tractor-semitrailer-trailer combination may be operated on the national system of interstate and defense highways and other highways upon designation by the Director of Transportation and final approval by the Governor. The Director of Transportatio…

The provisions of any other law or the provisions of any administrative rule, regulation, or order to the contrary notwithstanding, it shall be lawful to tow cotton wagons and module-movers on the highways of the state when the wagons or module-movers are being used to haul cotto…

(a) It shall be unlawful for any individual to drive or move on any highway in this state any vehicle of a size or weight except in accordance with the following: (1) HEIGHT. No vehicle, semitrailer, or trailer shall exceed in height 13 1/2 feet, including load. (2) LENGTH. No ve…

Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 32-9-20, an appurtenance attached to a motor home, travel trailer, self-propelled camper or house car, truck camper, or recreational vehicle commonly known as an R.V. may exceed the maximum prescribed width provided in Section 32-9-20 if …

(a) The term motor bus, wherever used in this section, means any motor-propelled vehicle used on the highways of this state for the transportation of passengers for hire. (b) Except as provided in subsection (d), it shall be lawful to drive or operate upon any highway in this sta…

(a) There shall be exempt from the provisions of this article trucks, semitrailer trucks, or trailers owned by the United States, or any agency thereof, the State of Alabama, or any county or city, or incorporated town; nor shall the provisions of this article apply to implements…

There shall be exempt from the provisions of this article as to weight any truck or semitrailer truck transporting milk for human consumption, for which refrigeration and transit is reasonably necessary in the interest of public health, when moving under refrigeration to or from …

Farm tractors shall be exempt from the restrictions of this article as to width, but, however, shall not exceed nine feet in width. History: (Acts 1927, No. 347, p. 348; Code 1940, T. 36, §93.)

There shall be exempt from this article as to length, detachable wind deflection devices which have been approved by the State Department of Transportation, loads of poles, logs, lumber, laminated wood building materials, structural steel, piping, and timber, and vehicles transpo…

Any provision of any other law or the provision of any administrative rule, regulation, or order to the contrary notwithstanding, it shall be lawful for any farmer, custom picker, or husbandman to operate a two to eight-wheel, one to four-axle trailer on the highways of this stat…

All such trailers as described in Section 32-9-26 shall be equipped with red reflectors to adequately illuminate the rear of such trailer by placing at least two on the rear and one at each side. No such trailer shall be in excess of 10 feet in width, except that such trailer sha…

Any person violating the provisions of Sections 32-9-26 and 32-9-27 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished as provided by law. History: (Acts 1953, No. 688, p. 940, §3.)

(a) Authorized; application; issuance; seasonal, etc., limitations; refusal, revocation, or cancellation. (1) The Director of the Department of Transportation or the official of the department designated by the director, upon application and for good cause being shown therefor, m…

(a) The Director of the State Department of Transportation or the official of the State Department of Transportation designated by the director may, at his or her discretion, upon application and for good cause being shown therefor, issue special permits to the applicant, for mov…

Any peace officer, including sheriffs and their deputies, constables and their deputies, police officers and marshals of cities or incorporated towns, county police or patrols, state or county license inspectors and their deputies, state troopers and special officers appointed by…

Any officer enumerated in Section 32-9-3 having reason to believe that the height, length, width, or weight of any truck, semitrailer truck, or trailer is in excess of the maximum limits prescribed by Section 32-9-20, or permitted by any permit issued under authority of Section 3…

The Director of the Department of Transportation is authorized to designate, furnish instructions to, prescribe rules and regulations for the conduct of, and to supervise official stations for determining the weight of motor vehicles at such points as it may be deemed necessary. …

All courts having jurisdiction of misdemeanors punishable by a fine of $500.00 or less and by imprisonment or hard labor, as above provided, shall have concurrent jurisdiction of the trial of all offenses under this chapter committed within their respective territorial jurisdicti…

The operation of any truck, semitrailer truck, or trailer in violation of any section of this chapter or of the terms of any permit issued under this chapter, shall constitute a misdemeanor, and the owner thereof, if such violation was with his or her knowledge or consent, and th…

All fines and forfeitures collected upon conviction or upon forfeiture of bail of any person charged with a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter constituting a misdemeanor, shall be, within 30 days after such fine or forfeiture is collected, forwarded to the State T…

Whenever used in this chapter, unless a different meaning clearly appears in the context, the following terms shall be given the following respective meanings: (1) COMMERCE. a. Any trade, traffic, or transportation within the jurisdiction of the United States between a place in a…

(a)(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), no person may operate a commercial motor vehicle in this state, or fail to maintain required records or reports, in violation of the federal motor carrier safety regulations as prescribed by the U.S. Department of Transportat…

The Department of Public Safety shall use their commercial vehicle inspection authority, including portable scales, in those areas of the state that are prone to accidents involving the transportation of metal coils to aggressively inspect and weigh vehicles transporting metal co…

Any records required to be maintained by operators of commercial motor vehicles pursuant to state or federal laws or regulations shall be open to inspection during the normal business hours of a carrier by members designated by the director. The inspection may be made without a w…

(a) Any person violating Section 32-9A-2(a)(1) shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by a fine of not less than twenty- five dollars ($25) nor more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) for each offense. In addition, the court may impose a sentence of imprisonment in the cou…

This chapter is remedial and should be liberally construed to promote the public health, public safety, and general welfare. To the extent this chapter directly conflicts with other state laws governing the operation of motor vehicles, this chapter prevails. Where this chapter is…

(a) The intrastate hours of service limitation applied to the drivers of commercial motor vehicles operating in intrastate transportation within a 150 air-mile radius of their normal work reporting location, following 10 consecutive hours off duty except when prohibited by federa…

For the purposes of this chapter, the following words shall have the following meanings: (1) AUTOMATED COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE. A commercial motor vehicle equipped with an automated driving system. (2) AUTOMATED DRIVING SYSTEM. The hardware and software that are collectively cap…

(a) Unless otherwise provided by this chapter, an automated commercial motor vehicle and a teleoperation system, including any commercial use or operation of either, are governed exclusively by this chapter. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Department of Transp…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an automated commercial motor vehicle may operate in this state without a conventional driver physically present in the vehicle if the vehicle meets all of the following criteria: (1) The automated commercial vehicle is capable of opera…

(a) The owner of an automated commercial vehicle, or the lessee if the vehicle is leased or rented, is considered the operator of the vehicle for the purpose of assessing compliance with applicable traffic or motor vehicle laws, including the rules of the road. (b) The automated …

When an accident occurs involving an automated commercial motor vehicle, the requirements of Chapter 10 shall be deemed satisfied if the vehicle remains on the scene of the accident and the vehicle, owner, a person on behalf of the owner, or operator promptly contacts appropriate…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a commercial motor vehicle equipped with a teleoperation system may operate without a conventional driver physically present in the vehicle if a remote driver is operating the vehicle. (b) When a remote driver is operating …

A commercial motor vehicle equipped with a teleoperation system registered in this state shall meet all of the following requirements: (1) Is in compliance with applicable federal law. (2) Is certified in accordance with federal regulations in 49 C.F.R. Part 567 as being in compl…

This chapter shall not be construed to repeal, modify, or preempt any liability that may be incurred under existing common or statutory law applicable to a vehicle owner, operator, manufacturer, component part supplier, or retailer. History: (Act 2019-496, §8.)

For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) ADS-EQUIPPED VEHICLE. A vehicle equipped with an automated driving system. (2) AUTOMATED DRIVING SYSTEM or ADS. The hardware and software that are collectively capable of performing the entire dyna…

An on-demand autonomous vehicle network shall be permitted to operate pursuant to state laws governing the operation of transportation network companies with the exception that any provision of this state’s laws, including Chapter 7C which reasonably applies only to a conventiona…

Nothing in this chapter is intended, or shall be construed, to require a county to construct, upgrade, maintain, or place traffic control devices on county roads in a manner that is above and beyond the manner in which roads are constructed, upgraded, maintained, or designed for …

(a) A person may operate an ADS-equipped vehicle with the ADS engaged on the public roads of this state only under all of the following conditions: (1) The ADS-equipped vehicle is capable of complying with the following: a. All applicable traffic and motor vehicle safety laws and…

A fully autonomous vehicle may operate on public roads in this state only if a person submits proof to the Department of Revenue of financial responsibility that the fully autonomous vehicle has single limits liability coverage, by contract of insurance or by qualifying as a self…

If a traffic accident occurs that involves an ADS-equipped vehicle that is being operated without a conventional human driver, the requirements of Chapter 10 of Title 32 do not apply to the ADS-equipped vehicle, provided all of the following occur: (1) The owner of the ADS-equipp…

A conventional human driver of an ADS-equipped vehicle is required to have a valid driver license for the class of vehicle being operated. History: (Act 2024-453, §5.)

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter or in Chapter 9B and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the operation of ADS-equipped vehicles and automated driving systems is governed exclusively by this chapter. (b) No state or local entity may impose requirements, in…

For purposes of this chapter and for assessing compliance with applicable traffic or motor vehicle laws, including rules of the road, unless the context otherwise requires, the automated driving system shall be deemed to be the operator of an ADS- equipped vehicle when all of the…

(a) Liability for a traffic accident involving an ADS-equipped vehicle shall be determined in accordance with applicable state law, federal law, or common law. (b) The original manufacturer of a vehicle converted by a third party into an ADS-equipped vehicle may not be held liabl…

(a) An ADS-equipped vehicle that is designed to be operated exclusively by an automated driving system for all trips shall not be subject to motor vehicle equipment laws or rules of this state that relate to or support motor vehicle operation by a conventional human driver but ar…