Definitions for traffic and vehicle rules

(a) As used in this chapter: (1) “Alley” means a street or highway intended to provide access to the rear or side of lots or buildings and not intended for the purpose of through vehicular traffic. (2) “Arterial street” means any United States or State numbered route, controlled access highway or other major radial or circumferential street or highway forming a part of a major arterial system of streets or highways. (3) “Authorized emergency vehicle” means vehicles of the fire department, police vehicles while in the course of police work, ambulances, and other vehicles as authorized by the council. (4) “Bicycle” means every device propelled by human power upon which any person may ride, having two tandem wheels and including any device generally recognized as a bicycle though equipped with two front or two rear wheels. (A) “Bicycle lane” means that portion of any highway which has been set aside for the preferential or exclusive use of bicycles. (B) “Bicycle path” means any facility set aside for the preferential or exclusive use of bicycles and physically separated from a highway. (C) “Bicycle route” means any highway that is designated to be shared by bicycles and pedestrians or motor vehicles, or both. (D) “Bicycle/walk path” means an existing sidewalk that is converted for use by both pedestrian and bicyclists. (E) “Bikeway” means a bicycle lane, bicycle path, bicycle route, or bicycle/walk path, or any traffic control device, shelter, parking facility, or other support facility to serve bicycles and persons using bicycles. (5) “Bus” means every motor vehicle designed for carrying more than ten passengers and used for the transportation of persons, and every motor vehicle, other than a taxicab, designed and used for the transportation of persons for compensation. (6) “Business district” means the territory contiguous to and including a highway when within any six hundred feet along such highway there are buildings in use for business or industrial purposes, including but not limited to hotels, banks, or office buildings, and public buildings which occupy at least three hundred feet of frontage on one side or three hundred feet collectively on both sides of the highway. (7) “Controlled access highway” means every highway, street or roadway in respect to which owners or occupants of abutting lands and other persons have no legal right of access to or from the same except at such points only and in such manner as may be determined by the public authority having jurisdiction over such highway, street, or roadway. (8) “County engineer” means the director of public works of the County. VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC § 24-3 (9) “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; (B) Any portion of a roadway at an intersection or elsewhere distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings on the surface. (10) “District engineer” means the chief engineer in the County of the highways division of the State department of transportation. (11) “Divided highway” means a highway divided into two or more separate roadways by medial strips. (12) “Emergency” means a situation where unforeseen, unexpected, or sudden occurrences call for immediate action by the responsible public officers, employees, or agents in order to preserve the public peace, health, or safety. (13) “Highway” means the width between the boundary lines of every way subject to this chapter when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for vehicular travel. (14) “Intersection” means: (A) The area embraced within the prolongation or connection of the lateral curb lines, or, if none, then the lateral boundary lines of the roadways of two highways which join one another at, or approximately at, right angles, or the area within which vehicles traveling upon different highways joining at any other angle may come in conflict. (B) Where a highway includes two roadways thirty feet or more apart, then every crossing of each roadway of such divided highway by an intersecting highway shall be regarded as a separate intersection. In the event such intersecting highway also includes two roadways thirty feet or more apart, then every crossing of two roadways of such highways shall be regarded as a separate intersection. (C) The junction of an alley with a street or highway shall not constitute an intersection. (15) “Moped” means any device upon which a person may ride which has two or three wheels in contact with the ground, a motor having a maximum power output capability measured at the motor output shaft, in accordance with the Society of Automotive Engineers standards, of one and one-half horsepower (one thousand, one hundred nineteen watts) or less and, if it is a combustion engine, a maximum piston or rotor displacement of 3.05 cubic inches (fifty cubic centimeters) and which will propel the device, unassisted, on a level surface at a maximum speed no greater than thirty-five miles per hour; and a direct or automotive power drive system which requires no clutch or gear shift operation by the moped driver after the drive system is engaged with the power unit. (16) “Motorcycle” means every 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, but excluding a tractor. (17) “Motorscooter” means every motor vehicle conforming to the definition of motorcycle, including motor-driven bicycles, and propelled by a motor which produces not more than five horsepower. (18) “Motor vehicle” means every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power but not operated upon rails. (19) “Official act” means an act by a public officer, employee, or agent of the County or State in such person’s official capacity, under color of such person’s title and by virtue of such person’s office as authorized by law. (20) “Official traffic-control device” means any sign, signal, marking or device not inconsistent with this Code placed or erected by authority of or with the consent of a public body or official having jurisdiction, for the purpose of regulating, warning, or guiding traffic. (21) “Operator” or “driver” means every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle, or who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle. (22) “Owner” means a person, other than a lien-holder, having the property in or title to a vehicle. The term includes a person entitled to the use and possession of a vehicle subject to a security interest in another person, but excludes a lessee under a lease not intended as security. (23) “Park” or “parking” means the standing of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, other than temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaged in loading or unloading merchandise or passengers. (24) “Passenger car” means every motor vehicle, except motorcycles and motor- driven cycles, designed and used for the transportation of persons. (25) “Pedestrian” means any person, afoot, in an invalid chair, or in a vehicle propelled by a person afoot. (26) “Pole trailer” means every vehicle without motive power designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach or pole, or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle, and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles, pipes, or structural members capable, generally, of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections. (27) “Police officer” means every officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of traffic regulations. (28) “Private road” or “private driveway” means every way or place in private ownership and used for vehicular travel by the owner and those having express or implied permission from the owner, and not so used by other persons. VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC § 24-3 (29) “Protective eyewear” means any device intended to be worn over the eye area, including, but not limited to, goggles or face shields, and designed primarily to protect the eyes of the wearer from flying objects or debris. Such protective eyewear shall be designed in such a way so as not to hamper the direct or peripheral vision of the wearer and so as to reasonably protect the eyes of the wearer from the entry of flying objects. (30) “Public holiday” means any legal holiday now existing, or such as may be subsequently specifically proclaimed by the governor of the State. (31) “Reconstructed vehicle” means every vehicle which is materially altered from the original construction by the removal, addition, or substitution of essential parts, new or used. Essential parts are all integral and body parts of a vehicle of a type required to be registered, the removal, alteration, or substitution of which would tend to conceal the identity of the vehicle, or substantially alter its appearance, model, type, or mode of operation. (32) “Residential district” means the territory contiguous to and including a highway not comprising a business district when the property on the highway for a distance of one-quarter mile or more is in the main improved with residences or residences and buildings in use for business. (33) “Right-of-way” means the right of a vehicle or pedestrian to proceed in a lawful manner in preference to another vehicle or pedestrian approaching under such circumstances of direction, speed, and proximity as to give rise to danger of collision, unless one vehicle grants precedence to the other. (34) “Road tractor” means every motor vehicle designed and used for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry any load thereon independently, or any part of the weight of a vehicle or load so drawn. (35) “Roadway” means that portion of a highway improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the berm or shoulder. In the event a highway includes two or more separate roadways, the term roadway shall refer to any such roadway separately, but not to all such roadways collectively. (36) “Safety zone” means the area or space officially set apart within a roadway for the exclusive use of pedestrians and which is protected, marked, or indicated by adequate signs plainly visible at all times while set apart as a safety zone. (37) “School bus” means every motor vehicle that complies with the color and identification requirements specified by rules promulgated pursuant to chapter 91, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, by the State highway safety coordinator, and that is used to transport children to or from school, or in connection with school activities, but not including buses operated by common carriers in transportation of school children. (38) “Semi-trailer” means every vehicle with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being 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 another vehicle. (39) “Sidewalk” means that portion of a street between the curb lines, or the lateral lines of a roadway and the adjacent property lines, intended for use of pedestrians. (40) “Siren” means a warning device for authorized emergency vehicle use, limited to the following sounds: (A) Wail; (B) Yelp; (C) European Hi-low; (D) Riot: A combination of the Yelp and European Hi-low. (41) “Solid tire” means every tire of rubber or other resilient material which does not depend upon compressed air for the support of the load. (42) “Special hazard vehicle” means any vehicle engaged in activities which create special hazards upon the highways including: (a) highway maintenance vehicles used by highway authorities when working on the highway; (b) public utility vehicles when necessarily parked other than adjacent to the curb in a highway for purposes of working on facilities; (c) trucks actually engaged in the towing of houses or buildings; (d) any pilot car required by permit issued by highway authorities while actually engaged in the movement of extra legal- size vehicles or loads; (e) tow cars while preparing a vehicle for towing and while towing a disabled vehicle; (f) vehicles used for mosquito abatement control when dispersing insecticides; and (g) other vehicles creating special hazards which may be designated by the chief of police. (43) “Special mobile equipment” means every vehicle not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property and only incidentally operated or moved over a highway, including but not limited to: ditch digging apparatus, well boring apparatus and road construction and maintenance machinery such as asphalt spreaders, bituminous mixers, bucket loaders, tractors other than truck tractors, ditchers, leveling graders, finishing machines, motor graders, road rollers, scarifiers, earth moving carry-alls and scrapers, power shovels and drag lines, and self-propelled cranes and earth moving equipment. The term does not include house trailers, dump trucks, truck mounted transit mixers, cranes or shovels, or other vehicles designed for the transportation of persons or property to which machinery has been attached. (44) “Specially constructed vehicle” means every vehicle of a type required to be registered and not originally constructed under a distinctive name, make, model, or type by a generally recognized manufacturer of vehicles and not materially altered from its original construction. (45) “Speed Limit” means the absolute maximum speed limit designated and physically displayed in the right of way for establishing the legal maximum vehicle velocity. (46) “Stand” or “standing” means the halting of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, otherwise than temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaged in receiving or discharging passengers. VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC § 24-3 (47) “Stop” (when required) means complete cessation of movement. (48) “Stop” or “stopping” (when prohibited) means any halting even momentarily of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic, or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or traffic-control sign or signal. (49) “Street” means the entire width between boundary lines of every way subject to this chapter when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. (50) “Taxicab” means a chauffeur driven vehicle other than a bus or tour vehicle, available for hire or while carrying passengers for a fare. (51) “Through highway” means every highway or portion thereof on which vehicular traffic is given preferential right-of-way, and at the entrances to which vehicular traffic from intersecting highways is required by law to yield the right-of-way to vehicles on such through highway in obedience to a stop sign, yield sign, or other official traffic control device, when such signs or devices are erected as provided by law. (52) “Tour vehicle” means a chauffeur driven passenger vehicle other than a bus operated for the principal purpose of sight-seeing tours. (53) “Tow” or “tow-away zone” means any street or highway or portion thereof, designated by the County council by ordinance as a tow or tow-away zone, whereon the parking, stopping or standing of vehicles is prohibited entirely or during specific hours. (54) “Traffic” means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using any highway for purposes of travel. (55) “Traffic-control signal” means any device, whether manually, electrically, or mechanically operated, by which traffic is alternately directed to stop and permitted to proceed. (56) “Trailer” means every vehicle, with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle. (57) “Truck” means every motor vehicle designed, used, or maintained primarily for the transportation of property. (58) “Truck tractor” means every motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and load so drawn. (59) “Turn around area” means that portion of a dead-end street designed primarily for turning a vehicle in the opposite direction. (60) “Vehicle” means every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.