Massachusetts Statutes

Section 21. Any officer authorized to make arrests may arrest without a warrant and keep in custody for not more than twenty-four hours, unless a Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday intervenes, any person who, while operating a motor vehicle on any way, as defined in section one,…

Section 22. (a) The registrar may suspend or revoke without a hearing any certificate of registration or any license issued under this chapter whenever the holder thereof has committed a violation of the motor vehicle laws of a nature which would give the registrar reason to beli…

Section 22A. The registrar, after hearing, shall suspend any license to operate motor vehicles issued to a judgment debtor in an action brought to recover damages for injury to property arising out of the use, operation or maintenance on the ways of the commonwealth of a motor ve…

Section 22B. (a) Whoever abandons a motor vehicle registered or unregistered, upon any public or private way or upon any property other than his own without the permission of the owner or lessee of said property shall be fined two hundred and fifty dollars for the first such aban…

Section 22C. If the superintendent of streets or other officer having charge of the public ways in a city or town reasonably deems that any motor vehicle apparently abandoned by its owner and standing for more than seventy-two hours upon a public or private way therein or on any …

Section 22D. Notwithstanding the provisions of section twenty-two, if the registrar has suspended or revoked any license issued under this chapter solely or in part because of an automobile law violation, as defined in section one of chapter ninety C, he shall forthwith reinstate…

Section 22E. Whoever takes any part or accessory from an abandoned motor vehicle standing upon a public or private way or standing upon any property without the permission of the owner or lessee thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than three hundre…

Section 22F. A person shall be deemed an habitual traffic offender when records maintained by the registrar show that such person has accumulated the following convictions within a five-year period; provided, however, that when a person who has no prior record of an automobile la…

Section 22G. The registrar may, after due hearing, suspend for a period not exceeding seven days the license or permit to operate motor vehicles or the right of a person to operate motor vehicles in the commonwealth of any person who litters, or who knowingly permits, as the oper…

Section 22H. No person shall transport an animal in the back of a motor vehicle in a space intended for a load on the vehicle on a public way unless such space is enclosed or has side and tail racks to a height of at least 46 inches extending vertically from the floor, the animal…

Section 22I. (a) For the purposes of this section, ''health care provider'' shall mean a registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, physician, physician assistant, psychologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, optometrist, ophthalmologist, osteopath or podiatrist who…

Section 23. Any person convicted of operating a motor vehicle after his license to operate has been suspended or revoked, or after notice of the suspension or revocation of his right to operate a motor vehicle without a license has been issued by the registrar and received by suc…

Section 24. (1) (a) (1) Whoever, upon any way or in any place to which the public has a right of access, or upon any way or in any place to which members of the public have access as invitees or licensees, operates a motor vehicle with a percentage, by weight, of alcohol in their…

Section 24A. If a motor vehicle is used in connection with the commission of a felony, of any larceny, or of any offence punishable under any provision of sections twenty-two, one hundred and thirteen to one hundred and seventeen, inclusive, and one hundred and twenty of chapter …

Section 24B. Whoever falsely makes, steals, alters, forges or counterfeits or procures or assists another to falsely make, steal, alter, forge or counterfeit a learner's permit, a license to operate motor vehicles, an identification card issued under section eight E, a special pa…

Section 24D. Any person convicted of or charged with operating a motor vehicle with a percentage, by weight, of alcohol in their blood of eight one-hundredths or greater, or while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, controlled substance or while under the influence from s…

Section 24E. The provisions of this section shall apply to any person convicted of or charged with operating a motor vehicle with a percentage, by weight, of alcohol in their blood of eight one-hundredths or greater, or while under the influence of intoxicating liquor provided sa…

Section 24F. Persons convicted of using a motor vehicle without authority under the provisions of paragraph (a) of subdivision (2) of section twenty-four shall be liable in a civil action to the owner of such vehicle, if it is recovered, for all towing and storage charges necessi…

Section 24G. (a) Whoever, upon any way or in any place to which the public has a right of access, or upon any way or in any place to which members of the public have access as invitees or licensees, operates a motor vehicle with a percentage, by weight, of alcohol in their blood …

Section 24H. No person shall remove an abandoned or stolen motor vehicle on a public way or any place to which the public has right of access without the express consent of the owner of such vehicle or without the written permission of the police department. The owner or operator…

Section 24I. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings: ''Open container,'' a bottle, can or other receptacle used to contain a liquid that has been opened or has a broken seal or the contents of which have been partially removed or consum…

Section 24J. In every case of a conviction of or a plea of guilty to a violation of subdivision (1) of section twenty-four involving operating a motor vehicle with a percentage, by weight, of alcohol in their blood of eight one-hundredths or greater, or under the influence of int…

Section 24K. Chemical analysis of the breath of a person charged with a violation of this chapter shall not be considered valid under the provisions of this chapter, unless such analysis has been performed by a certified operator, using infrared breath-testing devices according t…

Section 24L. (1) Whoever, upon any way or in any place to which the public has a right of access, or upon any way or in any place to which members of the public have access as invitees or licensees, operates a motor vehicle with a percentage, by weight, of alcohol in their blood …

Section 24M. The officials and agencies designated in this section are hereby directed to perform the duties specified in this section and any other action within their authority in order to ensure effective enforcement of sections twenty-four to twenty-four O, inclusive. (1) The…

Section 24N. Upon the issuance of a complaint alleging a violation of paragraph (a) of subdivision (1) of section twenty-four or a violation of section twenty-four G or twenty-four L of this chapter, or a violation of paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of section eight, or a violati…

Section 24O. Upon conviction of any violation of the provisions of this chapter, the defendant shall be provided by the probation office in the court in which said conviction was entered a statement in writing prepared by the secretary of public safety of the statutory provisions…

Section 24P. (a) Upon evidence that a person under the age of 21, after having been arrested for or charged with a violation under section 24, 24G or 24L, had a blood alcohol percentage of two one-hundredths or greater or upon evidence that such person refused to submit to a chem…

Section 24Q. A mandatory condition of any sentence imposed for: (1) a conviction or an assignment to an alcohol or controlled substance education, treatment or rehabilitation program if evidence in the prosecution of a violation of this chapter or chapter 90B was that a person's …

Section 24R. (a) Notwithstanding section 24 or section 24D, the registrar shall revoke for life the license or right to operate of a person assigned to an alcohol or controlled substance education, treatment, or rehabilitation program or convicted of a violation of subsection (a)…

Section 24S. (a) Whoever, upon any way or place to which the public has a right of access, or upon any way or place to which members of the public have access as invitees or licensees, operates a motor vehicle that is not equipped with a certified functioning ignition interlock d…

Section 24T. (a) Whoever interferes with or tampers with a certified ignition interlock device, with the intent to disable such device, shall be punished by imprisonment in the house of correction for not less than 6 months nor more than 21/2 years or by imprisonment in the state…

Section 24U. (a)(1) Whoever knowingly breathes into a certified ignition interlock device as defined in section 24T or starts a motor vehicle equipped with such a device for the purpose of providing an operable motor vehicle to a person whose license or right to operate a vehicle…

Section 24V. (a) Whoever violates paragraph (a) of subdivision (1) of section 24, subsection (a) of section 24G, operating a motor vehicle with a percentage by weight of blood alcohol of eight one-hundredths or greater, or while under the influence of intoxicating liquor in viola…

Section 24W. (a) A motor vehicle or vessel owned by a person who has been assigned to an alcohol or controlled substance education, treatment or rehabilitation program or who was convicted of a violation of paragraph (a) of subdivision (1) of section 24, subsection (a) of section…

Section 24X. The registration of a motor vehicle owned by a person who is assigned to an alcohol or controlled substance education, treatment or rehabilitation program or who is convicted of a violation of paragraph (a) of subdivision (1) of section 24, subsection (a) of section …

Section 25. Any person who, while operating or in charge of a motor vehicle, shall refuse, when requested by a police officer, to give his name and address or the name and address of the owner of such motor vehicle, or who shall give a false name or address, or who shall refuse o…

Section 26. Every person operating a motor vehicle which is involved in an accident in which any person is killed or injured or in which there is damage in excess of one thousand dollars to any one vehicle or other property shall, within five days after such accident, report in w…

Section 26A. (a) A person in whose name a motor vehicle or trailer has been registered under the provisions of this chapter and a person to whom a learner's permit or a license to operate motor vehicles has been granted by the registrar shall report a change of name, residential …

Section 27. The clerk-magistrate of each court shall keep a full record of every criminal case filed therein, and of every civil motor vehicle infraction heard therein, in which a person is charged with a violation of any statute, ordinance, by-law or regulation relating to the o…

Section 28. Any person aggrieved by a ruling or decision of the registrar may, within ten days thereafter, appeal from such ruling or decision to the board of appeal on motor vehicle liability policies and bonds created by section eight A of chapter twenty-six, which board may, a…

Section 29. The registrar shall appoint, and for cause, remove, a deputy registrar, chief deputy registrar, assistant to the registrar, and hearing officers, and may delegate to such deputy registrar, chief deputy registrar, assistant to the registrar and hearing officers, the pe…

Section 2A. An application for the registration of a motor vehicle or trailer owned by a minor shall, if not made by the minor, be made by his parent or legal guardian for registration in the name of the minor as owner. In addition to the pertinent provisions of this chapter the …

Section 2B. The owner of a motor vehicle who transfers the ownership thereof to another or who terminates the registration thereof shall thereupon remove from the vehicle any visible evidence furnished to him by the registrar under the provisions of section two relative to the va…