49-949. REQUIREMENT AS TO FENDER OR COVERS OVER ALL WHEELS ON MOTOR VEHICLES. (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to operate or move or any owner to permit to be operated or moved, any motor vehicle, truck, bus, semitrailer or trailer, upon any highway without having the vehicle equipped with fenders or covers which may include flaps or splash aprons, over and to the rear of wheels, as follows:

(a) On the rear wheels of every truck equipped with a body, bus, trailer or semitrailer the fenders or covers shall extend in full width from a point above and forward of the center of the tires over and to the rear of the wheels to a point that is not more than ten (10) inches above the surface of the highway when the vehicle is empty;

(b) Behind the rear wheels of every truck not equipped with a body the fenders or covers shall extend downward in full width from a point not lower than halfway between the center of the wheels and the top of the tires on the wheels to a point that is not more than ten (10) inches above the surface of the highway when the vehicle is empty;

(c) Behind all wheels of every motor vehicle other than trucks, buses, semitrailers, or trailers, the fenders or covers shall extend in full width from a point above and forward of the center of the tire over and to the rear of the wheel to a point that is not more than twenty (20) inches above the surface of the highway, unless the bumper is a factory built bumper fastened directly to the frame of the vehicle pursuant to factory installation requirements;

(d) Fenders or covers are not required on any modified American-made pre-1935 vehicle, or any identifiable vintage or replica thereof that is titled as a later assembled vehicle or replica and is used for show and pleasure use when such vehicle is used and driven only during fair weather on well-maintained hard-surfaced roads.

(2) Fenders or covers, as used in subsection (1) of this section, shall be deemed to be of sufficient size and construction as to comply with those requirements if constructed as follows:

(a) When measured on the cross sections of the tread of the wheel or on the combined cross sections of the treads of multiple wheels, the fender or cover extends at least to each side of the width of the tire or of the combined width of the multiple tires, as the case may be;

(b) The fender or cover is constructed as to be capable at all times of arresting and deflecting dirt, mud, water, or other substance as may be picked up and carried by wheels;

(c) For school buses if the body extension behind the rear wheels exceeds five (5) feet.

History:

[49-949, added 1988, ch. 265, sec. 265, p. 710; am. 1990, ch. 175, sec. 1, p. 372; am. 1997, ch. 376, sec. 1, p. 1206.]