Title 63, Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulations

The Commissioner of Public Safety is hereby authorized and directed to compile in a condensed form the Rules of the Road as set out by this chapter and have sufficient copies printed in pocket size booklet form. The booklets shall be made available to the various law enforcement …

The provisions of this chapter shall be taught in the eighth grade of each and every public school of this state. The state superintendent of public education and the county superintendent of each county are hereby directed and required to carry out the provisions of this section…

The following words and phrases when used in this chapter shall, for purposes of this chapter, have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this article.

(a) “Vehicle” means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. (b) “Motor vehicle” means every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle which …

(a) “Farm tractor” means every motor vehicle designed and used primarily as a farm implement for drawing plows, mowing machines, and other implements of husbandry. (b) “Road tractor” means every motor vehicle designed and used for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as …

(a) “Trailer” means every vehicle without motive power designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle. (b) “Semitrailer” means every vehicle without motive power designed…

(a) “Railroad” means a carrier of persons or property upon cars, other than street cars, operated upon stationary rails. (b) “Railroad train” means a steam engine, electric or other motor, with or without cars coupled thereto, operated upon rails, except street cars. (c) “Street …

(a) “Metal tire” means every tire the surface of which in contact with the highway is wholly or partly of metal or other hard nonresilient material. (b) “Pneumatic tire” means every tire in which compressed air is designed to support the load. (c) “Solid tire” means every tire of…

(a) “Explosive” means any chemical compound or mechanical mixture that is commonly used or intended for the purpose of producing an explosion and which contains any oxidizing and combustive units or other ingredients in such proportions, quantities or packing that an ignition by …

(a) “Commissioner” means the commissioner of public safety. (b) “Department” means the department of public safety.

“Local authority” means every county, municipal, and other local board or body having authority to adopt local police regulations under the constitution and laws of this state.

“Police officer” means every officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of traffic regulations.

(a) “Person” means every natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation, limited liability company or other legal business entity. (b) “Driver” means every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. (c) “Owner” means a person who holds the leg…

“Traffic” means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, street cars, and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highway for purposes of travel.

(a) “Street or highway” means the entire width between property lines of every way or place of whatever nature when any part thereof is open to the use of the public, as a matter of right, for purposes of vehicular traffic. (b) “Laned highway” means a highway the roadway of which…

“Crosswalk” means that portion of a roadway ordinarily included within the prolongation or connection of the lateral lines of sidewalks at intersections, or any portion of a roadway distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings on the surface.

“Intersection” means the area embraced within the prolongation or connection of the lateral curb lines, or, if none, then the lateral boundary lines of the roadways of two highways which join one another at or approximately at, right angles, or the area within which vehicles trav…

“Safety zone” means the area or space officially set apart within a roadway for the exclusive use of pedestrians and which is protected or is so marked or indicated by adequate signs as to be plainly visible at all times while set apart as a safety zone.

(a) “Official traffic-control devices” means all signs, signals, markings, and devices not inconsistent with this chapter placed or erected by authority of a public body or official having jurisdiction, for the purpose of regulating, warning, or guiding traffic. (b) “Official tra…

“Right-of-way” means the privilege of the immediate use of the highway.

(a) “Stop,” when required, means the complete cessation from movement. (b) “Stop, stopping or standing,” when prohibited, means any stopping or standing of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the dir…

(a) “Business district” means the territory contiguous to and including a highway when fifty percent (50%) or more of the frontage thereon for a distance of 300 feet or more is occupied by buildings in use for business. (b) “Residence district” means the territory contiguous to a…

It is unlawful and, unless otherwise declared in this title with respect to particular offenses, it is a misdemeanor for any person to do any act forbidden by this chapter or to fail to perform any act required in this chapter.

No person shall wilfully fail or refuse to comply with any lawful order or direction of any police officer invested by law with authority to direct, control, or regulate traffic.

The provisions of this chapter applicable to the drivers of vehicles upon the highways shall apply to the drivers of all vehicles owned or operated by the United States, this state or any county, city, town, district, or any other political subdivision of the state, subject to su…

Every person riding a bicycle or an animal or driving any animal drawing a vehicle upon a highway shall have all of the rights and all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle under this chapter, except those provisions of this chapter which by their nature can have no…

(a) An electric personal assistive mobility device as defined in Section 63-3-103, may be operated:(a) On a marked bicycle path;(b) On any street or road where bicycles are permitted; or(c) On a sidewalk, if the person operating the device yields the right-of-way to pedestrians a…

The provisions of this chapter shall be applicable and uniform throughout this state and in all political subdivisions and municipalities therein, and no local authority shall enact or enforce any rule or regulation in conflict with the provisions of this chapter unless expressly…

(1) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning may, in accordance with Section 37-105-1, enact rules and regulations that prohibit the operation of motor scooters, which are rented in accordance with Section 63-1-6.1, on certain roads or highways, if the board…

(a) The provisions of this chapter shall not be deemed to prevent local authorities with respect to streets and highways under their jurisdiction and within the reasonable exercise of the police power from-1. Regulating the standing or parking of vehicles;2. Regulating traffic by…

No county, municipality or other political subdivision shall enact any ordinance restricting the use of cellular phones in any motor vehicle until such time as the state may authorize a county, municipality or other political subdivision to enact such an ordinance.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent the owner of real property used by the public for purposes of vehicular travel by permission of the owner and not as a matter of right from prohibiting such use, or from requiring other or different or additional conditions th…

The commissioner of public safety shall adopt a manual and specifications for a uniform system of traffic-control devices consistent with the provisions of this chapter for use upon highways within this state. Such uniform system shall correlate with and so far as possible confor…

The commissioner of public safety and the state highway commission shall place and maintain such traffic-control devices conforming to its manual and specifications, upon all state and county highways as it shall deem necessary to indicate and to carry out the provisions of this …

Local authorities in their respective jurisdictions shall place and maintain such traffic control devices upon highways under their jurisdiction as they may deem necessary to indicate and to carry out the provisions of this chapter or provisions of local traffic ordinances or to …

The state highway commission is hereby authorized, in its discretion, to place amber reflectors on each end and on both sides of all bridges on all roads on the state highway system, which will permit a person to see such reflectors so that he might know that he is about to appro…

(1) Whenever traffic is controlled by traffic-control signals exhibiting the words “Go,” “Caution,” or “Stop,” or exhibiting different colored lights successively one (1) at a time, only the following colors shall be used and said terms and lights shall indicate as follows:(1) Gr…

1. Flashing red (stop signal). Whenever flashing red or yellow signals are used they shall require obedience by vehicular traffic as follows:1. Flashing red (stop signal). When a red lens is illuminated by rapid intermittent flashes, drivers of vehicles shall stop before entering…

No driver of a vehicle shall disobey the instructions of any official traffic-control device placed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, unless at the time otherwise directed by a police officer.

The driver of any authorized emergency vehicle when responding to an emergency call upon approaching a red or stop signal or any stop sign shall slow down as necessary for safety but may proceed cautiously past such red or stop sign or signal. At other times drivers of authorized…

(1) No person shall place, maintain, or display upon or in view of any highway any unauthorized sign, signal, marking or device which purports to be or is an imitation of or resembles an official traffic-control device or railroad sign or signal, or which attempts to direct the m…

No person shall without lawful authority attempt to or in fact alter, deface, injure, knock down, or remove any official traffic-control device or any railroad sign or signal, or any inscription, shield, or insignia thereon, or any other part thereof.

Any person who wilfully destroys, knocks down, removes, defaces, or alters any letters or figures on a detour or warning sign set upon a highway or road of this state, or who wilfully knocks down, removes, rearranges, destroys, defaces, or alters any letter or figures on a barric…

(a) The following words, terms and phrases, when used in Section 63-3-321 shall have the meaning ascribed to them herein:(a) “Detour sign” means any sign placed across or on a public road of the state, by the state, the county or municipal authorities or by their contractors, ind…

Every person convicted of a violation of Section 63-3-321 shall be punished by a fine of not less than five dollars ($5.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100.00), or by imprisonment for not more than thirty (30) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The conviction of…

(1) The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person shall immediately stop such vehicle at the scene of such accident or as close thereto as possible but shall then forthwith return to and in every event shall remain at the scene of…