Effective 28 Aug 2002

304.001. Definitions for chapter 304 and chapter 307. — As used in this chapter and chapter 307, the following terms shall mean:

(1) "Abandoned property", any unattended motor vehicle, trailer, all-terrain vehicle, outboard motor or vessel removed or subject to removal from public or private property as provided in sections 304.155 and 304.157, whether or not operational. For any vehicle towed from the scene of an accident at the request of law enforcement and not retrieved by the vehicle's owner within five days of the accident, the agency requesting the tow shall be required to write an abandoned property report or a crime inquiry and inspection report;

(2) "Commercial vehicle enforcement officers", employees of the Missouri state highway patrol who are not members of the patrol but who are appointed by the superintendent of the highway patrol to enforce the laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to commercial vehicles, trailers, special mobile equipment and drivers of such vehicles;

(3) "Commercial vehicle inspectors", employees of the Missouri state highway patrol who are not members of the patrol but who are appointed by the superintendent of the highway patrol to supervise or operate permanent or portable weigh stations in the enforcement of commercial vehicle laws;

(4) "Commission", the state highways and transportation commission;

(5) "Department", the state transportation department;

(6) "Freeway", a divided state highway with four or more lanes, with no access to the throughways except the established interchanges and with no at-grade crossings;

(7) "Interstate highway", a state highway included in the national system of interstate highways located within the boundaries of Missouri, as officially designated or as may be hereafter designated by the state highways and transportation commission with the approval of the Secretary of Transportation, pursuant to Title 23, U.S.C., as amended;

(8) "Members of the patrol", the superintendent, lieutenant colonel, majors, captains, director of radio, lieutenants, sergeants, corporals and patrolmen of the Missouri state highway patrol;

(9) "Off-road vehicle", any vehicle designed for or capable of cross-country travel on or immediately over land, water, ice, snow, marsh, swampland, or other natural terrain without benefit of a road or trail:

(a) Including, without limitation, the following:

a. Jeeps;

b. All-terrain vehicles;

c. Dune buggies;

d. Multiwheel drive or low-pressure tire vehicles;

e. Vehicle using an endless belt, or tread or treads, or a combination of tread and low-pressure tires;

f. Motorcycles, trail bikes, minibikes and related vehicles;

g. Any other means of transportation deriving power from any source other than muscle or wind; and

(b) Excluding the following:

a. Registered motorboats;

b. Aircraft;

c. Any military, fire or law enforcement vehicle;

d. Farm-type tractors and other self-propelled equipment for harvesting and transporting farm or forest products;

e. Any vehicle being used for farm purposes, earth moving, or construction while being used for such purposes on the work site;

f. Self-propelled lawnmowers, or lawn or garden tractors, or golf carts, while being used exclusively for their designed purpose; and

g. Any vehicle being used for the purpose of transporting a handicapped person;

(10) "Person", any natural person, corporation, or other legal entity;

(11) "Right-of-way", the entire width of land between the boundary lines of a state highway, including any roadway;

(12) "Roadway", that portion of a state highway ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the berm or shoulder;

(13) "State highway", a highway constructed or maintained by the state highways and transportation commission with the aid of state funds or United States government funds, or any highway included by authority of law in the state highway system, including all right-of-way;

(14) "Towing company", any person or entity which tows, removes or stores abandoned property;

(15) "Urbanized area", an area with a population of fifty thousand or more designated by the Bureau of the Census, within boundaries to be fixed by the state highways and transportation commission and local officials in cooperation with each other and approved by the Secretary of Transportation. The boundary of an urbanized area shall, at a minimum, encompass the entire urbanized area as designed by the Bureau of the Census.

­­--------

(L. 1983 H.B. 539, A.L. 1988 H.B. 990, A.L. 1994 S.B. 475, A.L. 1996 S.B. 560, A.L. 2002 H.B. 1270 and H.B. 2032)