2002 -- 7271 SUBSTITUTE B ======LC02358/SUB B/2 ======STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2002 ______
A N A C T
RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- ELECTRIC PERSONAL ASSISTIVE MOBILITY DEVICE
Introduced By: Representatives Kennedy, Lewiss, Barr, Garvey, and Naughton
Date Introduced: February 05, 2002
Referred To: House Corporations
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 31-1-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-1 entitled "Definitions
2 and General Code Provisions" is hereby amended to read as follows:
3 31-1-3. Types of vehicles. -- (a) (1) "Antique motor car" means any motor vehicle which
4 is more than twenty-five (25) years old. Unless fully inspected and meeting inspection
5 requirements, the vehicle may be maintained solely for use in exhibitions, club activities, parades,
6 and other functions of public interest and may not be used primarily for the transportation of
7 passengers or goods over any public highway;
8 (2) After the vehicle has met the requirements of state inspection, a registration plate
9 may be issued to it on payment of the standard fee. The vehicle may be operated on the highways
10 of this and other states, and may in addition to the registration plate retain the designation
11 "antique" and display an "antique plate".
12 (b) (1) "Antique motorcycle" means any motorcycle which is more than twenty-five (25)
13 years old. Unless fully inspected and meeting inspection requirements, the vehicle shall be
14 maintained solely for use in exhibitions, club activities, parades, and other functions of public
15 interest and may not be used primarily for the transportation of passengers or goods over any
16 public highway;
17 (2) After the vehicle has met the requirements of state inspection, a registration plate
18 may be issued to it on payment of the standard fee, and the vehicle may be operated on the 1 highways of this and other states, and may in addition to the registration plate retain the
2 designation "antique" and display an "antique plate".
3 (c) "Authorized emergency vehicle" means vehicles of the fire department (fire patrol),
4 police vehicles, vehicles used by Rhode Island state marshals in the department of corrections,
5 vehicles used by the state bomb squad within the division of state fire marshal, vehicles of
6 municipal departments or public service corporations designated or authorized by the
7 administrator as ambulances and emergency vehicles; and privately owned motor vehicles of
8 volunteer firefighters or privately owned motor vehicles of volunteer ambulance drivers or
9 attendants, as authorized by the department chief or commander and permitted by the Rhode
10 Island association of fire chiefs and Rhode Island association of police chiefs joint committee for
11 volunteer warning light permits.
12 (d) "Automobile" means, for registration purposes, every motor vehicle carrying
13 passengers other than for hire.
14 (e) "Bicycle" means every vehicle having two (2) tandem wheels, except scooters and
15 similar devices, propelled exclusively by human power, and upon which a person may ride.
16 (ee) Electric personal assistive mobility device ("EPAMD") is a self-balancing two (2)
17 non-tandem wheeled device, designed to transport only one (1) person, with an electric
18 propulsion system which limits the maximum speed of the device to fifteen (15) miles per hour.
19 (f) "Hearse" means every motor vehicle used for transporting human corpses. A hearse
20 shall be considered an automobile for registration purposes.
21 (g) "Jitney or bus" means: (1) a "public bus" which includes every motor vehicle, trailer,
22 semitrailer, tractor trailer, or tractor trailer combination, used for the transportation of passengers
23 for hire, and operated wholly or in part upon any street or highway as a means of transportation
24 similar to that afforded by a street railway company, by indiscriminately receiving or discharging
25 passengers, or running on a regular route or over any portion of one, or between fixed termini; or
26 (2) a "private bus" which includes every motor vehicle other than a public bus or passenger van
27 designed for carrying more than ten (10) passengers and used for the transportation of persons,
28 and every motor vehicle other than a taxicab designed and used for the transportation of persons
29 for compensation.
30 (h) "Motorcycle" means only those motor vehicles having not more than three (3) wheels
31 in contact with the ground and a saddle on which the driver sits astride, except bicycles with
32 helper motors as defined in subsection (j).
33 (i) "Motor-driven cycle" means every motorcycle, including every motor scooter, with a
34 motor of no greater than five (5) horsepower, except bicycles with helper motors as defined in
2 1 subsection (j).
2 (j) "Motorized bicycles" means two (2) wheel vehicles which may be propelled by
3 human power or helper power, or by both, with a motor rated not more than one and one-half
4 (1.5) brake horsepower or two (2) (S.A.E.) horsepower which is capable of a maximum speed of
5 not more than thirty (30) miles per hour.
6 (k) "Motorized camper" means a portable dwelling designed and constructed as an
7 integral part of a self-propelled vehicle used as a temporary dwelling for travel, camping,
8 recreational, and vacation use, and which is eligible to be registered for highway use.
9 (l) "Motorized tricycles" means tricycles which may be propelled by human power or
10 helper motor, or by both, with a motor rated no more than 1.5 brake horsepower which is capable
11 of a maximum speed of not more than thirty (30) miles per hour.
12 (m) "Motorized wheelchair" means any self-propelled vehicle, designed for and used by
13 a person with a disability, that is incapable of speed in excess of eight (8) miles per hour.
14 (n) "Motor vehicle" means every vehicle which is self-propelled or propelled by electric
15 power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails, except vehicles moved
16 exclusively by human power, an EPAMD wherein defined and motorized wheelchairs.
17 (o) "Motor vehicle for hire" means every motor vehicle other than jitneys, public buses,
18 hearses, and motor vehicles used chiefly in connection with the conduct of funerals, to transport
19 persons for compensation in any form, or motor vehicles rented for transporting persons either
20 with or without furnishing an operator.
21 (p) "Passenger van" means every motor vehic le capable of carrying ten (10) to fourteen
22 (14) passengers plus an operator and used for personal use or on a not-for-hire basis. Passenger
23 vans may be used for vanpools, transporting passengers to and from work locations, provided that
24 the operator receives no remuneration other than free use of the vehicle.
25 (q) "Pick-up coach or pick-up camper" means a structure designed primarily to be
26 mounted on a pick-up or truck chassis and with sufficient equipment to render it suitable for use
27 as a temporary dwelling for travel, camping, recreational, and vacation uses, and which is eligible
28 to be registered for highway use.
29 (r) "School bus" means every motor vehicle owned by a public or governmental agency,
30 when operated for the transportation of children to or from school; or privately owned, when
31 operated for compensation for the transportation of children to or from school.
32 (s) "Suburban vehicle" means every motor vehicle with a convertible or interchangeable
33 body or with removable seats, usable for both passenger and delivery purposes, and including
34 motor vehicles commonly known as station or depot wagons or any vehicle into which access can
3 1 be gained through the rear by means of a hatch or trunk and where the rear seats can be folded
2 down to permit the carrying of articles as well as passengers.
3 (t) "Tent trailer" means a canvas, folding structure, mounted on wheels but not self-
4 propelled, used as a temporary dwelling for travel, camping, recreational, and vacation uses, and
5 which is eligible to be registered for highway use.
6 (u) "Trackless trolley coach" means every motor vehicle which is propelled by electric
7 power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated on rails.
8 (v) "Travel trailer" means a vehicular structure built on a chassis, portable but not self-
9 propelled, designed to be used as a temporary dwelling for travel, camping, recreational, and
10 vacation uses, and when equipped for the road has a body width not exceeding eight feet (8') and
11 which is eligible to be registered for highway use.
12 (w) "Vehicle" means every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or
13 may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except devices used exclusively upon stationary
14 rails or tracks.
15 SECTION 2. Section 31-3-2.2 of the General Laws in Chapter 31-3 entitled "Registration
16 of Vehicles" is hereby amended to read as follows:
17 31-3-2.2. Registration of motorcycles, motorized bicycles, and motorized tricycles. --
18 Every motorcycle, motorized bicycle, and motorized tricycle owned by a resident of this state
19 shall be subject to the registration provisions of chapters 3 -- 9 of this title, whether the
20 motorcycle, motorized bicycle, or motorized tricycle is operated or drawn upon a highway within
21 this state or upon private property.
22 (b) Notwithstanding any general law to the contrary, cities and towns are empowered to
23 enact ordinances that permit the use and regulation of electric personal assistive mobility devices
24 ("EPAMD"). Provided, however, the EPAMD shall be exclusively restricted to governmental or
25 law enforcement uses.
26 SECTION 3. Sections 31-19-3, 31-19-11, and 31-19-12 of the General Laws in Chapter
27 31-19 entitled "Operation of Bicycles" are hereby amended to read as follows:
28 31-19-3. Applicability of traffic laws. -- Every person riding an electric personal
29 assistive mobility device ("EPAMD") or propelling a vehicle by human power shall be granted all
30 of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of any other vehicle
31 by chapters 12 -- 27 of this title, except as to spe cial regulations in this chapter and except as to
32 those provisions of chapters 12 -- 27 which by their nature can have no application. This section
33 shall not forbid a bicyclist from traveling upon the shoulders of the highway except for those
34 highways whic h prohibit bicyclists. , provided further that an EPAMD shall possess all the rights
4 1 and obligations of a pedestrian, but shall not have the rights and responsibilities of the operator of
2 a motor vehicle and that cities and towns may regulate the operation of an EPAMD.
3 31-19-11. Bicycles and motorized wheelchairs on sidewalks and crosswalks. -- A
4 person may ride any vehicle operated by human power or may operate a motorized wheelchair or
5 an electric personal assistive mobility device ("EPAMD") as defined in section 31-1-3 upon and
6 along a sidewalk, or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk, unless prohibited by official
7 traffic -control devices (signs).
8 31-19-12. Bicycles on sidewalks and crosswalks -- Rights and duties. -- A person
9 propelling a vehicle by human power or operating an electric personal assistive mobility device
10 ("EPAMD") upon and along a sidewalk, or across a roadway upon and along a crosswalk, shall
11 be granted all the rights and shall be subject to all the duties applicable to a pedestria n under the
12 same circumstances; provided, however, that a person riding an electric personal assistive
13 mobility device ("EPAMD") on a sidewalk or a bicycle path or trail shall yield the right-of-way to
14 pedestrians or give an audible signal before overtaking any passing pedestrian. Pedestrians using
15 an EPAMD shall exercise a high degree of care when passing a pedestrian using a wheelchair,
16 walker or other mobility aid and only pass when the width of the sidewalk exceeds five (5) feet.
17 SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage but until further action by the
18 general assembly the operation of an EPAMD on sidewalks, bicycle paths and trails shall be
19 limited to government agencies, including law enforcement personnel in the performance of their
20 duties.
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5 EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- ELECTRIC PERSONAL ASSISTIVE MOBILITY DEVICE
***
1 This act would define the use of an electric personal assistive mobility device
2 ("EPAMD").
3 This act would take effect upon passage, but until further action by the general assembly
4 the operation of an EPAMD on sidewalks, bicycle paths and trails would be limited to
5 governmental agencies, including law enforcement personnel in the performance of their duties.
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