Title 23, Title 23: Motor Vehicles

§ 884. Proof of insurance; notice of cancellation A company issuing such insurance or indemnity bond shall file with the Commissioner proof that the required insurance or indemnity bond has been issued as shall be satisfactory to the Commissioner and such insurance or bond shall …

§ 885. Waiver of defenses against injured party When evidence of insurance is offered to the Commissioner that a contract or policy of insurance issued by a liability insurance company or a surety bond has been procured in accordance with the provisions of section 881 of this tit…

§ 886. Injured person may obtain name and description of insurer A person injured in person or property by a motor bus may apply to the Commissioner for the name and description of the insurer of the motor bus causing such injury or the name of the surety upon any indemnity bond …

§ 887. Penalties A person who violates a provision of sections 881-886 of this title shall be fined not more than $500.00 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

§ 888. Alternative form of security In lieu of all or part of the insurance or bond required by section 881 of this title, a motor bus owner may file with the Commissioner a bond conditioned for the payment and discharge of all liability described in section 881 of this title pro…

§ 921. Liability insurance A motor vehicle owned or hired by a board of school directors shall not be operated in the transportation of schoolchildren at any time when the owner and operator thereof is not insured under a liability policy issued by an insurance company authorized…

§ 941. Insurance against uninsured, underinsured, or unknown motorists (a) No policy insuring against liability arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of any motor vehicle may be delivered or issued for delivery in this State with respect to any motor vehicle registere…

§ 942. Binders and renewal endorsements; binders of insurance An insurer authorized to issue automobile liability insurance may issue a binder, in lieu of a policy, and issue a renewal endorsement or evidence of renewal of an existing policy. Renewal endorsements and binders shal…

§ 943. Provisions in insurance policies All policies of motor vehicle liability insurance delivered or issued for delivery in this State shall be deemed to include provisions in accordance with this subchapter and rules adopted in furtherance thereof. (Added 1967, No. 374 (Adj. S…

§ 1001. Rules (a) The Commissioner may adopt rules: (1) relating to motor vehicle equipment in all cases where its use is not defined in this title and whenever the use or nonuse, contrary to the rules, in the judgment of the Commissioner, may render the operation of the motor ve…

§ 1003. State speed zones (a) When the Traffic Committee constituted under 19 V.S.A. § 1(24) determines, on the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation that shall take into account, if applicable, safe speeds within school zones (or safe speeds within 200 feet of school…

§ 1004. Interstate highway rules (a) The Traffic Committee has exclusive authority to make and publish, and from time to time may alter, amend, or repeal, rules pertaining to vehicular, pedestrian, and animal traffic, and the public safety on the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Sys…

§ 1005. Regulation of parking The Traffic Committee may place signs prohibiting or restricting the stopping, standing, or parking of vehicles on any highway under its jurisdiction where, in its opinion, stopping, standing, or parking is dangerous to those using the highway or wou…

§ 1006. Stopping at railroad crossings The Traffic Committee may designate particularly dangerous railroad grade crossings, and the Agency of Transportation shall erect stop signs at each. The expense of erecting these stop signs shall be borne by the Agency of Transportation. (A…

§ 1006a. Highways; emergency closure (a) The Traffic Committee may close any part or all of any State highway to public travel to protect the health, safety, or welfare of the public. In such event, the Agency may maintain a detour comprising State or town highways, or both, arou…

§ 1006b. Smugglers’ notch; winter closure of Vermont Route 108; vehicle operation prohibited (a) Winter closure. The Agency of Transportation may close the Smugglers’ Notch segment of Vermont Route 108 during periods of winter weather. (b) Vehicle operation prohibition. (1) Singl…

§ 1006c. Chain requirements for vehicles with weight ratings of more than 26,000 pounds (a) As used in this section, “chains” means link chains, cable chains, or another device that attaches to a vehicle’s tire or wheel or to the vehicle itself and is designed to augment the trac…

§ 1007. Local speed limits (a)(1) The legislative body of a municipality may establish, on the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation, a speed limit on all or a part of any city, town, or village highway within its jurisdiction, which: (A) is not more than 50 miles per…

§ 1007a. Neighborhood electric vehicles; speed limit The maximum speed for a neighborhood electric vehicle shall be 25 miles per hour. (Added 2003, No. 8, § 2.)

§ 1008. Ordinances in municipalities (a) The legislative body of a municipality may adopt ordinances as to the operation, use, and parking of motor vehicles, including angle parking; as to the location, design, and structure of traffic lights; as to “stop” signs and “yield right …

§ 1008a. Regulation of motor vehicles at State airports (a)(1) The Secretary may adopt rules governing the operation, use, and parking of motor vehicles on the grounds of State airports, including the access roads. (2) In addition, the Secretary may prescribe special restrictions…

§ 1009. Restrictions of controlled-access roadway (a) The Traffic Committee by resolution or order entered in its minutes may regulate or prohibit the use of any controlled-access highway by any class or kind of traffic that is found to be incompatible with the normal and safe mo…

§ 1010. Special occasions; town highway maintenance (a) When it appears that traffic will be congested by reason of a public occasion or when a town highway is being reconstructed or maintained or where utilities are being installed, relocated, or maintained, the legislative body…

§ 1011. Applicability of this chapter (a) The provisions of this chapter relating to the operation of motor vehicles apply to operation upon public highways only, except where a different place is specifically referred to. (b) On-duty enforcement officers are exempt from the spee…

§ 1012. Obedience to enforcement officers (a) A person while operating or in charge of a motor vehicle shall, upon request by an enforcement officer who reasonably suspects that the person has committed or is committing a violation of this title, give his or her name and address …

§ 1013. Authority of enforcement officers Enforcement officers may make arrests for violation of this title; may direct, control, and regulate traffic; and may make reasonable orders in enforcement of this title or to prevent or alleviate traffic congestion, property damage, or p…

§ 1014. Persons riding animals A person riding an animal or driving any animal-drawn vehicle upon a road is granted all of the rights and is subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a motor vehicle by this chapter except those provisions of this chapter that by th…

§ 1015. Authorized emergency vehicles (a) The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle, when responding to an emergency call or when responding to, but not returning from, a fire alarm and a law enforcement officer operating an authorized emergency vehicle in fresh pursuit of a …

§ 1016. Reports of arrests Law enforcement officers who make arrests or issue citations for violations of this title shall forward a written report on forms prescribed and furnished by the Commissioners of Motor Vehicles and of Public Safety and approved by the Attorney General w…

§ 1017. Speed limit in school zones Notwithstanding the maximum penalty established in subsection 2302(c) of this title and the waiver penalties established pursuant to 4 V.S.A. § 1102(d), the civil penalty for violating a State or municipal speed limit in a school zone designate…

§ 1021. Obedience to traffic-control devices (a) The driver of any vehicle shall obey the instructions of any official traffic-control device applicable to him or her placed in accordance with this chapter unless otherwise directed by an enforcement officer, subject to the except…

§ 1022. Traffic-control signals (a) Whenever traffic is controlled by traffic-control signals exhibiting different colored lights, or colored lighted arrows, successively one at a time or in combination, only the colors green, red, and yellow may be used, except for special pedes…

§ 1023. Pedestrian-control signals Whenever special pedestrian-control signals exhibiting the words “Walk” or “Don’t Walk” are in place, the signals indicate as follows: (1) “Walk”: pedestrians facing the signal may proceed across the roadway in the direction of the signal and sh…

§ 1024. Flashing signals (a) Whenever a flashing red or yellow signal is used in a traffic sign or signal, it requires obedience by vehicular traffic as follows: (1) Flashing red: When a red lens is illuminated with rapid intermittent flashes, drivers shall stop before entering t…

§ 1025. Standards (a) The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD), as amended, shall be the standards for all traffic control signs, signals, and markings within the State. Revis…

§ 1026. Lane control signals When lane direction control signals are placed over the individual lanes of a street or highway, vehicular traffic shall travel in any lane over which there is a green signal but may not enter or travel in any lane over which there is a red signal. (A…

§ 1027. Unauthorized signs, signals, or markings (a) No person shall place, maintain, or display upon or in view of any highway any unauthorized sign, signal, marking, or device that is an imitation of or resembles an official traffic-control device or railroad sign or signal or …

§ 1028. Interference with devices or signals No person shall, without lawful authority, alter or attempt to 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 part…

§ 1029. Municipal signs Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 1025 and 1027 of this title, municipalities may erect alternative signs of a guidance or informational nature and creative design, in accordance with the provisions of 10 V.S.A. § 494(15), to assist persons in rea…

§ 1031. Driving to right (a) Upon all roadways of sufficient width, a vehicle shall be driven upon the right half of the roadway, except as follows: (1) when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction under the rules governing such movement; (2) when …

§ 1032. Passing vehicles proceeding in opposite directions Drivers of vehicles proceeding in opposite directions shall pass each other to the right, and upon roadways having width for not more than one line of traffic in each direction, each driver shall give to the other at leas…

§ 1033. Passing motor vehicles and vulnerable users (a) Passing motor vehicles generally. Motor vehicles proceeding in the same direction may be overtaken and passed only as follows: (1) The driver of a motor vehicle overtaking another motor vehicle proceeding in the same directi…

§ 1034. Passing on the right (a) The driver of a vehicle may overtake and pass upon the right of another vehicle only as follows: (1) when the vehicle overtaken is making or about to make a left turn; (2) upon a street or highway of sufficient width for two or more lines of movin…

§ 1035. Limitations (a) A vehicle shall not be driven to the left side of the center of the roadway in overtaking and passing another vehicle or a vulnerable user proceeding in the same direction unless authorized by the provisions of this chapter and unless the left side is clea…

§ 1036. No-passing zones (a) The Traffic Committee is authorized to determine those portions of any highway under its jurisdiction where overtaking and passing or driving on the left side of the roadway would be especially hazardous and may by appropriate signs indicate the begin…

§ 1037. One-way roadways and rotaries (a) The Traffic Committee may designate any highway or any separate roadway under its jurisdiction for one-way traffic and shall erect appropriate signs giving notice thereof. (b) Upon a roadway designated and signposted for one-way traffic, …