TITLE VII: TRAFFIC CODE Chapter 70. GENERAL PROVISIONS 71. TRAFFIC REGULATIONS 72. PARKING 73. TRAFFIC SCHEDULES 74. PARKING SCHEDULES 1 2 Haw River - Traffic Code CHAPTER 70: GENERAL PROVISIONS Section General Provisions 70.01 Definitions 70.02 Obedience to police required 70.03 Application to public employees 70.04 Application to authorized emergency vehicles 70.05 Application to pushcarts, bicycles, and animal-driven vehicles 70.06 School zones 70.07 Zone of quiet 70.08 Play streets 70.09 Loads and equipment 70.10 Compression braking Traffic-Control Devices 70.20 Obedience to traffic-control devices required 70.21 Traffic-control signal legend Traffic Citations 70.35 Traffic citation procedure 70.36 Fine schedule 70.99 Penalty GENERAL PROVISIONS ' 70.01 DEFINITIONS. For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning. AMBULANCE. Vehicles equipped for transporting wounded, injured, or sick persons. 2008 S-3 Repl. 3 4 Haw River - Traffic Code AUTHORIZED EMERGENCY VEHICLE. Vehicles of the Fire Department, police vehicles, and ambulances, as defined above, designated or authorized by the Chief of Police or Town Council. BLOCK. The length of that portion of any street which is located between two street intersections. BUSINESS DISTRICT. The territory contiguous to a highway where 50% or more of the frontage thereon for a distance of 300 feet or more is occupied by buildings which are in use for business purposes. COMPRESSION BRAKING. Engine braking, the act of using the energy-requiring compression stroke of the internal combustion engine to dissipate energy and slow down a vehicle. CROSSWALK. That portion of a roadway which lies between the prolongation of the lateral sidewalk or boundary lines over an intersection; any portion of a roadway distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings on the surface. DRIVER or OPERATOR. The OPERATOR of a vehicle. OPERATOR shall mean any person in actual physical control of a vehicle which is in motion or which has the engine running. The terms DRIVER and OPERATOR are synonymous. HIGHWAY or STREET. The entire width between property or right-of-way lines of every way or place of whatever nature when any part thereof is open to the use of the public as a matter of right for the purposes of vehicular traffic. The terms HIGHWAY or STREET or a combination of the two terms shall be used synonymously. HOUSE TRAILER. Any trailer or semitrailer (as defined in this section) designed and equipped to provide living or sleeping facilities and drawn by a motor vehicle. INTERSECTION. The area embraced within the prolongation of the lateral curblines or, if none, then the lateral edge of roadway lines of two or more highways which join one another at any angle, whether or not one such highway crosses the other. Where a highway includes two roadways 30 feet or more apart, then every crossing of each roadway of such a divided highway by an intersecting highway shall be regarded as a separate INTERSECTION. In the event that such an intersecting highway also includes two roadways 30 feet or more apart, then every crossing of two roadways of such highways shall be regarded as a separate INTERSECTION. MOPED. Vehicles having two or three wheels and operable pedals and equipped with a motor which does not exceed 50 cubic centimeters piston displacement and cannot propel the vehicle at a speed greater than 20 miles per hour on a level surface. MOTORCYCLES. Vehicles having a saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, including motor scooters and motor-driven bicycles, but excluding tractors and utility vehicles equipped with an additional form of device designed to transport property; three-wheeled vehicles while being used by law-enforcement agencies; and mopeds as defined above. 2008 S-3 Repl. General Provisions 5 MOTOR VEHICLE. Every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle designed to run on the highways which is pulled by a self-propelled vehicle. This definition shall not include mopeds as defined above. OFFICIAL TIME STANDARD. Whenever certain hours are named herein they shall mean standard time or daylight saving time as may be in current use in this town. OFFICIAL TRAFFIC-CONTROL DEVICES. All signs, signals, markings, and devices not inconsistent with this code, placed or erected by authority of the governing body or an official having jurisdiction for the purpose of regulating, warning, or guiding traffic. OFFICIAL TRAFFIC SIGNALS. Any device, whether manually, electrically, or automatically operated, by which traffic is alternately directed to stop and to proceed. OPERATOR. See the definition for DRIVER. OWNER. A person holding the legal title to a vehicle. However, in the event a vehicle is the subject of a chattel mortgage or an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof or other like agreement with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with the immediate right of possession vested in the mortgagor, conditional vendee, or lessee, the mortgagor, conditional vendee, or lessee shall be deemed the OWNER for the purpose of this traffic code. For the purposes of this traffic code, the lessee of a vehicle owned by the government of the United States shall be considered the OWNER of that vehicle. PARK. The standing of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, other than temporarily for the purpose and while actually engaged in loading and unloading. PEDESTRIAN. Any person afoot. POLICE OFFICER. Every officer of the Police Department or any officer authorized to direct traffic or regulate traffic and to make arrests for violations of traffic regulations. PRIVATE ROAD or DRIVEWAY. Every road or DRIVEWAY not open to the use of the public as a matter of right for purposes of vehicular traffic. PUBLIC CONVEYANCE. Any vehicle which is engaged in the business of transporting persons for fare. RAILROAD. A carrier of persons or property, other than streetcars, with cars operated on stationary rails. RAILROAD TRAIN. A steam engine, electric, or other locomotor, with or without cars coupled thereto, operated upon rails, not including streetcars. 6 Haw River - Traffic Code RESIDENCE DISTRICT. The territory contiguous to a highway not comprising a business district, where the frontage thereon for a distance of 300 feet or more is mainly occupied by dwellings or by dwellings and buildings in use for business purposes. RIGHT-OF-WAY. The privilege of the immediate use of the roadway not inconsistent with traffic regulations and conditions. ROAD TRACTORS. Vehicles designed and used for drawing other vehicles upon the highway and not so constructed as to carry any part of the load, either independently or as a part of the weight of the vehicle so drawn. ROADWAY. That portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the shoulder. In the event a highway includes two or more separate ROADWAYS, the term ROADWAY, as used herein, shall refer to any such ROADWAY separately but not to all such ROADWAYS collectively. SAFETY ZONE. Traffic island or other space officially set aside within a highway for the exclusive use of pedestrians and which is so plainly marked or indicated by proper signs as to be plainly visible at all times while set apart as a safety zone. SEMITRAILERS. Vehicles without motive power designed for carrying property or persons and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that part of their weight or their load rests upon or is carried by the pulling vehicle. SIDEWALK. That portion of a street between the curb lines or the lateral lines of a roadway and the adjacent property lines exclusively intended for the use of pedestrians. STANDING. Any stopping of a vehicle whether occupied or not. STOP. When required, means complete cessation of movement. STOP or STOPPING. When prohibited, means any STOPPING of a vehicle, except when conflict with other traffic is imminent or when otherwise directed by a police officer or traffic-control sign or signal. STREET. See the definition for HIGHWAY. TRAFFIC. Pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars, and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using any street for purposes of travel. TRAFFIC-CONTROL DEVICES. Authorized signs, lights, markers, or the like which are assumed to be permanently or temporarily placed, erected, or installed at certain places and which purport to give notice or direction or to convey a prohibition or warning. The presence of such devices, though not compulsory, is generally dictated by necessity or common sense with a view to furtherance of public safety. General Provisions 7 TRAILERS. Vehicles without motive power designed for carrying property or persons wholly on their own structure and to be drawn by a motor vehicle, including "pole trailers" or a pair of wheels used primarily to balance a load rather than for purposes of transportation. TRUCK TRACTORS. Vehicles designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry any load independent of the vehicle so drawn. VEHICLE. Every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon fixed rails or tracks; provided, that for the purposes of this traffic code bicycles shall be deemed vehicles, and every rider of a bicycle upon a highway shall be subject to the provisions of this traffic code applicable to the driver of a vehicle except those which by their nature can have no application. (G.S. ' 20-4.01) (>87 Code, ' 70.01) (Ord.