Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 23, § 4 (2026)
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§ 4. Definitions
Except as may otherwise be provided by law, and unless the context otherwise requires in statutes relating to motor vehicles and enforcement of the law regulating vehicles, as provided in this title and 20 V.S.A. part 5, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) “Authorized emergency vehicle” means a vehicle of a fire department, law enforcement vehicle, public and private ambulance, and a vehicle equipped as provided in subsections 1252(a) and (b) of this title.
(2) “Button” is a traffic control marking consisting of an object, either permanently attached to the pavement or temporarily placed, and projecting above the surface.
(3) “Carrying capacity of a motor truck” shall be deemed to be the heaviest net load to be carried.
(4) “Commissioner” shall mean in this title only the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles.
(5) “Construction area” or “work zone” or “work site” means an area of a highway undergoing construction, maintenance, or utility work activities by order or with the permission of the State or a municipality that is designated by and located within properly posted warning devices.
(6) “Contractor’s trailer” means any trailer or semi-trailer towed by a motor truck or truck tractor, both of which have been owned or leased and registered for a period of 30 days or more by the using contract highway builder and used solely for the purpose of transporting road-making appliances or motorized highway building equipment from job to job in connection with his or her business of building, repair, or maintenance of highways.
(7) “Crosswalk” means:
(A) that part of a roadway at an intersection included within the connections of the lateral lines of the sidewalks on opposite sides of the highway measured from the curbs or, in the absence of curbs, from the edges of the traversable roadway; or
(B) any portion of a roadway at an intersection or elsewhere distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings on the surface.
(8)(A)(i) “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. A dealer may, as part of or incidental to such business, repair such vehicles or motorboats, sell parts and accessories, or lease or rent such vehicles or motorboats. “Dealer” does not include a finance or auction dealer or a transporter.
(ii)(I) For a dealer in new or used cars or motor trucks, “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.
(II) For a dealer in snowmobiles, motorboats, or all-terrain vehicles, “engaged in the business” means having sold or exchanged at least one snowmobile, motorboat, or all-terrain vehicle, respectively, in the immediately preceding year or two in the two immediately preceding years.
(III) For a dealer in trailers, semi-trailers, or trailer coaches, “engaged in the business” means having sold or exchanged at least one trailer, semi-trailer, or trailer coach in the immediately preceding year or a combination of two such vehicles in the two immediately preceding years. However, the sale or exchange of a trailer with a gross vehicle weight rating of 3,500 pounds or less shall be excluded under this subdivision (III).
(IV) For a dealer in motorcycles or motor-driven cycles, “engaged in the business” means having sold or exchanged at least one motorcycle or motor-driven cycle in the immediately preceding year or a combination of two such vehicles in the two immediately preceding years.
(V) For the purposes of this subdivision (8)(A)(ii), the sale or exchange of vehicles or motorboats owned but not registered by the dealer, or that have been in lease or rental services, shall count as sales or exchanges. Vehicles or motorboats that are to be scrapped, dismantled, or destroyed shall not count as sales or exchanges.
(B) [Repealed.]
(C) “Finance dealer” means a person who is authorized to do business in this State and is actively engaged in and devoting a principal portion of his or her time to the wholesale and retail financing of motor vehicle sales by and through direct wholesale loans to those who are registered motor vehicle dealers under chapter 7 of this title or the purchase of retail conditional sales contracts from the dealers. A person entitled to dealer registration under this subdivision shall be deemed a dealer only to the extent of moving or operating under dealer registration a motor vehicle that he or she is repossessing in the regular course of his or her business. A person entitled to dealer registration under this subdivision shall also be entitled to demonstrate repossessed motor vehicles.
(D) “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. A motor vehicle to be sold at public auction by the auction dealer may be transported to the place of auction for a period of up to 30 days prior to the date of auction on auction dealer plates and then only by the dealer or his or her employee. A motor vehicle sold by an auction dealer may only be operated on auction dealer plates on the date of sale and then only by the dealer or his or her employee or by the purchaser when accompanied by the dealer or employee within 10 miles of the place of auction.
(E) As used in this subdivision (8), “person” shall include any individual or, in the case of partnerships, corporations, or other entities, the directors, shareholders, officers, or partners in these entities.
(F) [Repealed.]
(9) “Edge of the roadway” is the extreme right-hand limit of any improved area within the right-of-way of the highway.
(10) “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.
(11) “Enforcement officers” shall include:
(A) The following persons certified pursuant to 20 V.S.A. § 2358: sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, constables whose authority has not been limited under 24 V.S.A. § 1936a, police officers, State’s Attorneys, Capitol Police officers, motor vehicle inspectors, liquor investigators, State game wardens, and State Police.
(B) For enforcement of offenses relating to parking of motor vehicles, meter checkers and other duly authorized employees of a municipality employed to assist in the enforcement of parking rules.
(C) For enforcement of nonmoving traffic violations enumerated in subdivisions 2302(a)(1), (2), (3), and (4) of this title, duly authorized employees of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Such employees may issue complaints in accordance with 4 V.S.A. § 1105.
(12) “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. Fresh pursuit is not necessarily instant pursuit, but pursuit without unreasonable delay.
(13) “Highway,” “road,” “public highway,” or “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.
(14) “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.
(15) “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.S.A. § 563 to transport other than schoolchildren, nor one that is used in the transfer of U.S. mail on a star route, so-called, nor one that is used to transport elders or persons who have a disability for whom special transportation programs are designed and funded by State and federal authority through public and private nonprofit social service agencies; nor shall it apply to cooperative use transportation.
(16) “Junior operator” shall include only such persons as are 16 and 17 years of age.
(17) “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. However, “motor bus” shall not be construed to include transportation service the route and destination of which are under the direction and subject to the control of the passengers so transported or to include cooperative-use transportation.
(18)(A) “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.
(B) “Autocycle” means a three-wheeled motorcycle:
(i) in which the occupants sit with their legs forward;
(ii) designed to be controlled with a steering wheel and pedals; and
(iii) equipped with safety belts for all occupants.
(C) “Fully enclosed autocycle” means an autocycle equipped with a windshield and that has full top and side enclosures capable of supporting the vehicle’s weight and protecting the occupants when the vehicle is resting on the enclosures.
(19) “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, that 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.
(20) “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.
(21) “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.
(22) “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.
(23) “Nonresident” shall include any person who does not come under the definition of a resident.
(24) “Operate,” “operating,” or “operated” as applied to motor vehicles shall include “drive,” “driving,” and “driven” and shall also include an attempt to operate and shall be construed to cover all matters and things connected with the presence and use of motor vehicles on the highway, whether they be in motion or at rest.
(25) “Operator” shall include all persons 18 years of age or over properly licensed to operate motor vehicles.
(26) “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.
(27) “Person” includes any natural person, corporation, association, co-partnership, company, firm, or other aggregation of individuals.
(28) “Pleasure car” shall include all motor vehicles not otherwise defined in this title and shall include plug-in electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as defined pursuant to subdivision (85) of this section.
(29) [Repealed.]
(30)(A) “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. Any foreign partnership, firm, association, or corporation having a place of business in this State shall be deemed to be a resident as to all vehicles owned or leased and that are garaged or maintained in this State.
(B) Without limiting the class of nonresidents under the provisions of this subdivision, persons who live in the State for a particular purpose involving a defined period of time, including students, migrant workers employed in seasonal occupations, and persons employed under a contract with a fixed term, are not residents for purposes of this title only.
(31) “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.
(32) “Roadway” is that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular traffic, exclusive of the shoulder.
(33) “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.
(34)(A) “School bus” means any motor vehicle used to transport children to or from school or in connection with school activities, except:
(i) Buses operated by common carriers who incidentally accept school children as passengers.
(ii) Private motor vehicles used to carry members of the owner’s household. As used in this section, “private motor vehicle” means a vehicle neither owned nor leased by a public school or an approved independent school.
(iii) Private motor vehicles used to transport children without compensation. For the purposes of this section, “compensation” means payment in any form except reimbursement for mileage or the normal salary paid to a person otherwise employed by the school.
(iv) Motor vehicles with a manufacturer’s rated seating capacity of fewer than 11 persons, including the operator, that are owned, leased, or hired by a school, or for which services are reimbursed by a school. However, if used to transport students, these shall be considered a Type II school bus for purposes of licensure, shall display an identification sign as prescribed in subdivision 1283(a)(1) of this title, and shall be equipped with a simple system of at least two red alternating warning lights unless the driver is a school employee or a volunteer subject to a criminal background check and is transporting no more than five persons excluding the operator, provided that the vehicle has safety belts for all persons being transported.
(v) Motor coaches provided with a driver to a school on a single-trip or multi-trip contract basis to provide transportation to or from, or to and from, athletic or other special events. A motor coach is a vehicle at least 35 feet in length with a manufacturer’s rated seating capacity of more than 30 passengers and is designed for long distance transportation of passengers, characterized by integral construction with an elevated passenger deck located over a baggage compartment. Pursuant to 16 V.S.A. § 255, a superintendent or headmaster shall request criminal record information for a driver of a motor coach if the driver may be in unsupervised contact with schoolchildren.
(vi) Multifunction school activity buses, as defined in section 1287 of this title, provided with a driver to a school on a single-trip or multi-trip contract basis to provide transportation to or from, or to and from, athletic or other special events. Pursuant to 16 V.S.A. § 255, a superintendent or headmaster shall request criminal record information for a driver of a multifunction school activity bus if the driver may be in unsupervised contact with schoolchildren.
(vii) Other multifunction school activity buses as defined in section 1287 of this title.
(B) “Type I school bus” means a school bus with a manufacturer’s rated seating capacity of more than 15 passengers, including the operator.
(C) “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.
(D)-(F) [Repealed.]
(35) “Sidewalk” is that portion of a street between the curb lines or the lateral lines of a roadway, and the adjacent property lines, intended for use by pedestrians.
(36) “Single axle load” is the total load transmitted to the highway by all wheels whose centers may be included within two parallel transverse vertical planes less than 48 inches apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle.
(37) “Standard equipment” and “properly equipped” as applied to a motor vehicle shall include adequate tires, head lamps, tail lamps, lenses, reflectors, brakes, muffler, rear view mirror, windshield wiper, horns, windshield, number plate brackets, and only such motor fuel tank or tanks as are regularly installed by the manufacturer. “Standard equipment” and “properly equipped,” as applied to motor vehicles designated by the manufacturer as 1964 or later models, shall also include safety seat belts or harnesses installed in the left and right front seats of pleasure cars and windshield defroster on pleasure cars, motor trucks, and motor buses, both to be of a type approved by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles.
(38) “Tandem axle load” is the total load transmitted to the highway by all wheels whose centers may be included between two parallel transverse vertical planes not less than 48 inches apart and not more than eight feet apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle. A trunnion axle, with eight wheels in line, shall be considered to be a tandem axle, except that when operated upon portions of the highways that are designated as the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways it shall be considered a single axle.
(39) “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.
(40) “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.
(41) “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.
(42)(A) “Transporter” means:
(i) a person engaged in the business of delivering vehicles of a type required to be registered from a manufacturing, assembling, or distributing plant to dealers or sales agents of a manufacturer;
(ii) a person regularly engaged in the business of towing trailer coaches, owned by them or temporarily in their custody, on their own wheels over public highways, or towing office trailers owned by them or temporarily in their custody, on their own wheels over public highways;
(iii) a person regularly engaged and properly licensed for the short-term rental of “storage trailers” owned by them and who move these storage trailers on their own wheels over public highways;
(iv) a person regularly engaged in the business of moving modular homes over public highways;
(v) dealers, owners of motor vehicle auction sites, and automobile repair shop owners when engaged in the transportation of motor vehicles to and from their place of business for repair purposes; or
(vi) the following, provided that the transportation and delivery of motor vehicles is a common and usual incident to their business:
(I) persons towing overwidth trailers owned by them in connection with their business;
(II) persons whose business is the repossession of motor vehicles;
(III) persons whose business involves moving vehicles from the place of business of a registered dealer to another registered dealer, or between a motor vehicle auction site and a registered dealer or another motor vehicle auction site, leased vehicles to the lessor at the expiration of the lease, or vehicles purchased at the place of auction of an auction dealer to the purchase; and
(IV) persons who sell or exchange new or used motor vehicles but who are not engaged in business as that phrase is defined in subdivision (8)(A)(ii) of this section.
(B) As used in this subdivision (42):
(i) “Short-term rental” means a period of less than one year.
(ii) “Repossession” includes the transport of a repossessed vehicle to a location specified by the lienholder or owner at whose direction the vehicle was repossessed.
(43) “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.
(44) “Moving violation” means any violation of any provision of this title, while the motor vehicle is being operated on a public highway, over which operation the operator has discretion as to commission of the act, except for offenses pertaining to:
(A) a parked vehicle, equipment, size, weight, inspection, or registration of the vehicle;
(B) child restraint or safety belt systems or seat belts as required in section 1258 or 1259 of this title; or
(C) motorcycle headgear under section 1256 of this title.
(45)(A) “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. As motor vehicles, motor-driven cycles shall be subject to the purchase and use tax imposed under 32 V.S.A. chapter 219 rather than to a general sales tax. Electric personal assistive mobility devices, motor-assisted bicycles, and electric bicycles are not motor-driven cycles.
(B)(i) “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 1.3 horsepower; or
(II) has an electric motor with a power output of not more than 1,000 watts and does not meet the requirements of one of the three classes in subdivisions (46)(A)(i)-(iii) of this section.
(ii) Motor-assisted bicycles shall be regulated in accordance with section 1136 of this title.
(iii) Electric bicycles, as defined in subdivision (46) of this section, are not motor-assisted bicycles, as defined in subdivision (45) of this section.
(46)(A) “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:
(i) “Class 1 electric bicycle” means an electric bicycle equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and that ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of 20 miles per hour.
(ii) “Class 2 electric bicycle” means an electric bicycle equipped with a motor that may be used exclusively to propel the bicycle and that is not capable of providing assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of 20 miles per hour.
(iii) “Class 3 electric bicycle” means an electric bicycle equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and that ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of 28 miles per hour.
(B) An electric bicycle is not a motor vehicle and is a vehicle to the same extent that a bicycle is a vehicle.
(C) Electric bicycles shall be regulated in accordance with section 1136a of this title.
(47) “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. Cooperative use shall include shared driving and shared expense; employer-owned or leased vehicles, including buses, that are operated for employee commuting purposes; and commuter services organized and arranged by employee cooperatives, labor unions, credit unions, and neighborhood groups that are operated for the convenience of their members.
(48) “License to operate a motor vehicle” means any operator’s license or any other license or permit to operate a motor vehicle issued under, or granted by, the laws of this State, including:
(A) any temporary license or learner’s permit;
(B) the privilege of any person to operate a motor vehicle whether or not such person holds a valid license; and
(C) any nonresident’s operating privilege.
(49) “Revocation of a license” means the termination by formal action of the Commissioner of an individual’s license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle on the public highways in which the license or privilege shall not be subject to renewal or restoration except upon an application for a new license presented to and acted upon by the Commissioner after the expiration of the applicable period of time prescribed in this title. The term also includes the refusal of the right of an unlicensed individual to apply for a license.
(50) “Suspension of license” means the withdrawal by formal action of the Commissioner, for a specific period of time and until reinstatement by the Commissioner, of a person’s license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle on the public highways. The term also includes the refusal of the right of an unlicensed person to apply for a license.
(51) “Single-axle tow dolly” is a vehicle towed by a self-propelled motor vehicle and designed and used exclusively to transport another self-propelled motor vehicle that shall not be required to be registered and upon which the front or rear wheels of the towed self-propelled motor vehicle are mounted while the other wheels of the towed self-propelled motor vehicle remain in contact with the ground. These vehicles shall not be subject to registration or titling nor shall they be treated as a separate vehicle when used in combination with another vehicle. They shall be subject to equipment safety requirements.
(52) “Alcohol assessment screening” means an assessment of an individual’s use of alcohol, which includes consideration of the results of any available tests relating to the individual’s blood alcohol content, the individual’s motor vehicle record, responses to an alcohol screening questionnaire approved by the Secretary of Human Services, personal interviews, and any other relevant information that is identified in any subsequent report.
(53) “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.
(54) “Transportation dolly” means a vehicle towed by a motor vehicle and designed and used exclusively in the transport of buildings that are not normally transported over the highway and whose dimensions or weight, or both, would require a permit subject to engineering inspection, which consists of sets of single or double axles with wheels set in such configurations underneath the building to be moved so as to distribute the weight of the load. This vehicle shall not be subject to registration and shall be exempt from titling and so treated whether used singly or in conjunction as one separate vehicle when used in combination with another vehicle. However, all moves shall be governed by the Commissioner’s rules for oversize and overdimension moves.
(55) “Unprocessed milk products” means raw milk transported in bulk when transported in a milk tank truck, semi-trailer, trailer, or combination thereof.
(56) “Full or semi-flotation applicator vehicle” means a vehicle used for the application of lime, fertilizer, or agricultural chemicals.
(57) “Month” means 30 days and “year” means 365 days.
(58) “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.
(59) “Disqualification” means a withdrawal of the privilege to drive a commercial motor vehicle.
(60) “Conviction” means an unvacated final adjudication of guilt, or a final determination that a person has violated or failed to comply with the law in a court of original jurisdiction or an authorized administrative tribunal, an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the person’s appearance in court, the payment of a fine or court cost, or violation of a condition of release without bail, regardless of whether or not the penalty is rebated, suspended, or probated. Conviction shall also mean a plea of guilty or nolo contendere that has been accepted by the court.
(61) “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. When a storage trailer is moved over the public highways, it shall not contain cargo weighing more than 2,000 pounds and shall be properly equipped, in good mechanical condition, and inspectable under the provisions of section 1222 of this title, except that storage trailers need not display an inspection sticker.
(62) “New motor vehicle” means a vehicle that is being registered or titled for the first time.
(63) “Used motor vehicle” means a vehicle that previously has been registered or titled.
(64) “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. Commercial fleet inspection stations shall be authorized to inspect only those vehicles registered to the company or business.
(65) “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. Municipal fleet inspection stations shall be authorized to inspect only those vehicles registered to a municipality.
(66) “Electric personal assistive mobility device” (EPAMD) means a self-balancing, two-nontandem-wheeled device, designed to transport only one person, with an electric propulsion system with average power of 750 watts (1 h.p.).
(67) “Pedestrian” means any individual afoot or operating a wheelchair or other personal mobility device, whether motorized or not, and including an electric personal assistive mobility device.
(68) “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. “Farm tractor” also means a self-propelled vehicle designed to perform single-purpose functions, such as land preparation, crop protection, or harvesting. The term “farm tractor” shall not include a “motor truck” as defined in subdivision (20) of this section.
(69) “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.
(70) “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.S.A. § 3752(7). In order to qualify as an “agricultural custom service vehicle,” a motor truck shall be registered under either subsection 367(a) or (f) of this title and shall be exempt from sections 1400 and 1400a of this title if the gross weight does not exceed 60,000 pounds. The operator of an agricultural custom service vehicle shall be exempt from the requirements of chapter 39 of this title, to the extent allowed by federal law.
(71) “Agricultural service vehicle” means a motor truck that shall be registered under subsection 367(a) of this title and is used for the purpose of transporting to or from a farm:
(A) agricultural inputs, including lime, fertilizer, commercial feed, or forages; or
(B) agricultural outputs, including milk, vegetables, fruit, horticultural crops, forages, or livestock.
(72) “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.
(73) “Neighborhood electric vehicle” means a self-propelled electrically powered motor vehicle that:
(A) is emission free;
(B) is designed to carry four or fewer persons;
(C) is designed to be, and is, operated at speeds of 25 miles per hour or less;
(D) has at least four wheels in contact with the ground;
(E) has a gross vehicle weight rating less than 3,000 pounds; and
(F) conforms to the minimum safety equipment requirements as adopted in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 500, Low Speed Vehicles, 49 C.F.R. § 571.500.
(74) “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.
(75) “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 (54) of this section.
(76) “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.
(77) “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. The towed vehicle shall not be required to be registered.
(78) “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.
(79) “Personal radio frequency identification number chip” shall mean the number assigned to the transmitting chip in an enhanced license.
(80) An “all-surface vehicle” or “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. An all-surface vehicle shall be designed for use both on land and in water, with or without tracks, shall be capable of flotation and shall be equipped with a skid-steering system, a sealed body, a fully contained cooling system, and up to eight tires designed to be inflated with an operating pressure not exceeding 10 pounds per square inch as recommended by the manufacturer. An all-surface vehicle shall have a net weight of 1,500 pounds or less, shall have a width of 75 inches or less, shall be equipped with an engine of not more than 50 horsepower, and shall have a maximum speed of not more than 25 miles per hour. An ASV when operated in water shall be considered to be a motorboat and shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 29, subchapter 2 of this title. An ASV operated anywhere except in water shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 31 of this title.
(81) “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.
(82) “Portable electronic device” means a portable electronic or computing device, including a cellular telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or laptop computer. “Portable electronic device” does not include a two-way or Citizens Band radio, or equipment used by a licensed Amateur Radio operator in accordance with 47 C.F.R. Part 97.
(83) “Business day” or “working day” means any calendar day except Saturday, Sunday, or any day classified as a holiday under 1 V.S.A. § 371.
(84) “Serious bodily injury” has the meaning set forth in 13 V.S.A. § 1021.
(85) “Plug-in electric vehicle” means a motor vehicle that can be powered by an electric motor drawing current from a rechargeable energy storage system, such as from storage batteries or other portable electrical energy storage devices, provided that the vehicle can draw recharge energy from a source off the vehicle such as electric vehicle supply equipment. A “plug-in electric vehicle” includes both a “battery electric vehicle” and a “plug-in hybrid electric vehicle” where:
(A) “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
(B) “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.
(86) “On-track equipment” means any car, locomotive, rolling stock, equipment, or other device that, alone or coupled, is operated on stationary rails.
(87) “Mail,” “mail or deliver,” “mails,” “mails or delivers,” “mailing,” “mailing or delivering,” “mailed,” and “mailed or delivered” mean any method of delivery authorized by the Commissioner, which may include by hand, U.S. mail, and electronic transmission.
(88) “Towing business” means a person that regularly engages in one or more of the following: recovery, impoundment, transport, storage, or disposal of motor vehicles. (Amended 1961, No. 137, § 1; 1963, No. 32; 1963, No. 54; 1963, No. 90, § 1; 1963, No. 206, § 1; 1963, No. 223, § 2; 1964, No. 19 (Sp. Sess.), § 1, eff. March 9, 1964; 1965, No. 91; 1965, No. 106, § 1, eff. Feb. 1, 1966; 1965, No. 119, eff. Sept. 1, 1965; 1965, No. 120, § 2; 1965, No. 204, § 1; 1966, No. 40 (Sp. Sess.), §§ 1-4, eff. March 11, 1966; 1967, No. 252 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1967, No. 341 (Adj. Sess.), § 12; 1969, No. 258 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 1, 1970; 1969, No. 259 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 12; 1971, No. 14, § 6, eff. March 11, 1971; 1971, No. 258 (Adj. Sess.), § 4, eff. March 1, 1973; 1973, No. 25, § 1, eff. March 15, 1973; 1975, No. 71, § 1, eff. April 17, 1975; 1975, No. 135 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Feb. 17, 1976; 1975, No. 149 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1975, No. 192 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1975, No. 214 (Adj. Sess.); 1975, No. 234 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1977, No. 20, §§ 1, 8; 1977, No. 102, §§ 2, 3, eff. Sept. 1, 1977; 1977, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), eff. April 5, 1978; 1977, No. 249 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 6, eff. April 19, 1978; 1979, No. 19, eff. April 6, 1979; 1979, No. 46, §§ 6, 7, eff. April 26, 1979; 1979, No. 125 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 3, eff. April 15, 1980; 1979, No. 129 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 2, eff. April 18, 1980; 1983, No. 6, eff. Feb. 23, 1983; 1983, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1983, No. 102 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 4, 5; 1983, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.); 1983, No. 134 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1983, No. 212 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1985, No. 12, § 1; 1985, No. 85, § 1; 1985, No. 104 (Adj. Sess.); 1985, No. 124 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 7, 9, eff. April 18, 1986; 1985, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 2; 1987, No. 11; 1987, No. 18; 1987, No. 62, § 2; 1987, No. 145 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 13, 1988; 1987, No. 190 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1987, No. 209 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 1989, No. 51, § 7; 1989, No. 127 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. March 15, 1990; 1989, No. 179 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. May 14, 1990; 1989, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1989, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1991, No. 72, § 1; 1991, No. 88, § 1; 1991, No. 143 (Adj. Sess.); 1991, No. 165 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1993, No. 18, § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 1994; 1993, No. 64, §§ 1, 2; 1993, No. 212 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 2, 4; 1995, No. 112 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1997, No. 32, § 1; 1997, No. 50, § 44, eff. June 26, 1997; 1997, No. 55, § 1, eff. June 26, 1997; 1999, No. 18, § 41i, eff. May 13, 1999; 1999, No. 31, § 1, eff. May 19, 1999; § 2, eff. July 1, 1999; 1999, No. 34, § 6; 1999, No. 110 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 1a, 2; 1999, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 49, eff. May 24, 2000; 2001, No. 38, § 2; 2001, No. 91 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1-4; 2001, No. 139 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2003, No. 8, § 1; 2003, No. 56, § 69, eff. June 4, 2003; 2003, No. 66, § 217b; 2003, No. 109 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 2005, No. 29, § 1; 2005, No. 175 (Adj. Sess.), § 40; 2005, No. 188 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2007, No. 20, §§ 1, 2; 2007, No. 61, § 1; 2007, No. 75, § 32; 2007, No. 153 (Adj. Sess.), § 37; 2007, No. 164 (Adj. Sess.), § 49; 2007, No. 184 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 2; 2007, No. 188 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2009, No. 114 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2009, No. 150 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. June 1, 2010; 2009, No. 152 (Adj. Sess.), § 19a, eff. Sept. 1, 2010; 2011, No. 17, § 2, eff. May 11, 2011; 2011, No. 17, § 4, eff. July 1, 2013; 2013, No. 57, §§ 1, 2, 3; 2013, No. 57, § 25, eff. Jan. 1, 2014; 2013, No. 64, § 7; 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 141; 2013, No. 189 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 12, 34; 2013, No. 189 (Adj. Sess.), § 39, eff. Oct. 1, 2014; 2015, No. 47, §§ 1, 2; 2015, No. 50, § 1; 2015, No. 147 (Adj. Sess.), § 18; 2015, No. 153 (Adj. Sess.), § 37; 2015, No. 158 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 54, 56; 2017, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 151; 2017, No. 132 (Adj. Sess.), § 6; 2019, No. 59, § 29, eff. June 14, 2019; 2019, No. 121 (Adj. Sess.), § 13; 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 130, 131, 132, 133; 2019, No. 149 (Adj. Sess.), § 37; 2021, No. 20, §§ 223, 224, 225, 226; 2021, No. 40, §§ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 411, 412, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 41, § 2, eff. June 1, 2023; 2023, No. 41, § 41, eff. July 1, 2023; 2023, No. 165 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 3, 22, 43, eff. July 1, 2024; 2025, No. 18, § 37, eff. May 13, 2025; 2025, No. 66, § 1, eff. July 1, 2025.)