Municipal Code of Chicago § 9-4-010 Definitions.
9-4-010 Definitions.
Whenever the following words and phrases are used in Chapters 9-4 through 9-102 of this Code, they shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section:
"Abandoned vehicle" means any vehicle that: (a) is in such a state of disrepair as to render the vehicle incapable of being driven in its present condition or (b) has not been moved or used for seven consecutive days and is apparently deserted.
"Administrative correspondence hearing" means a hearing by which a registered owner of a vehicle or his attorney, who does not wish to appear in-person before an administrative law officer, may contest liability for a parking, compliance, automated traffic law enforcement system or automated speed enforcement system violation based on the administrative law officer's review of documentary evidence submitted by the owner or his attorney.
"Administrative adjudication" means an administrative in-person hearing or an administrative correspondence hearing, whichever is applicable.
"Administrative in-person hearing" means a hearing before an administrative law officer at which a registered owner of a vehicle or his attorney appears in-person or via video or audio conference to contest liability for a parking, compliance, automated traffic law enforcement system or automated speed enforcement system violation.
"Alley" means a public way intended to give access to the rear or side of lots or buildings and not intended for the purpose of through vehicular traffic.
"Authorized emergency vehicle" means any vehicle of any fire department or police department or the city's office of emergency management and communications and any repair, service or other emergency vehicle of a governmental agency or public service corporation authorized by the superintendent of police.
"Automated speed enforcement system" has the meaning ascribed to that term in Section 11-208.8 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, 625 ILCS 5/11-208.8.
"Automated speed enforcement system violation" or "violation of an automated speed enforcement system" means a violation of Section 9-101-020.
"Automated traffic law enforcement system" has the meaning ascribed to that term in Section 11-208.6 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, 625 ILCS 5/11-208.6.
"Automated traffic law enforcement system violation" or "violation of an automated traffic law enforcement system" means a violation of Section 9-102-020.
"Bicycle" means a two or three-wheeled riding conveyance propelled solely by human power, and equipped with fully operable pedals, or their mechanical equivalent, which transfer the operator’s effort to the rotation of the wheels, creating the movement of the conveyance.
"Bicycle share station" means a self-service station where bicycles are made available for rent.
"Bicyclist" means a person operating a bicycle.
"Boulevard" means a through street, except that its use is limited exclusively to certain specified classes of traffic.
"Bridle path" means a path designated for travel by persons upon horses.
"Bus" means every motor vehicle designed for carrying more than ten passengers and used for the transportation of persons.
"Bus stand" means a fixed area in the roadway parallel and adjacent to the curb to be occupied exclusively by buses for layover in operating schedules or waiting for passengers.
"Bus stop" means a fixed area in the roadway parallel and adjacent to the curb set aside for the expeditious loading and unloading of passengers only.
"Business street" means the length of any street between street intersections on which more than 50 percent of the entire frontage at ground level of the street is in use by retail or wholesale businesses, hotels, banks, office buildings, railway stations, or public buildings other than schools.
“Central Business District” means the district consisting of those streets or parts of streets within the area bounded by a line as follows: beginning at the easternmost point of Division Street extended to Lake Michigan; then west on Division Street to LaSalle Street; then south on LaSalle Street to Chicago Avenue; then west on Chicago Avenue to Halsted Street; then south on Halsted Street to Roosevelt Road; then east on Roosevelt Road to its easternmost point extended to Lake Michigan; including parking spaces on both sides of the above-mentioned streets.
"Commercial vehicle" means a motor vehicle meeting one or more of the following requirements and shall not include vehicles designed and operated to carry fewer than 10 passengers for hire:
(a) Any motor vehicle that is emblazoned with the name, logo or other identifier of a business affixed to the vehicle either permanently, such as stenciled or painted, or temporarily, such as a magnetic sticker or a sign attached to the antenna, in a manner identifiable from at least twenty-five feet away. Temporary, unaffixed identification, such as a sheet of paper or cardboard on the dashboard or rear window deck, is not sufficient to label a vehicle a commercial vehicle.
(b) Any motor vehicle driven for profit or to carry or transport property, merchandise, or supplies of a commercial or industrial nature bearing a permit issued under Section 9-64-160(d).
(c) Any junk vehicle as defined herein.
(d) Any vehicle with an unenclosed cargo bed, if such unenclosed cargo bed has been modified to increase the vehicle's capacity to transport or carry merchandise, junk, cargo or other property of any type, even if such cargo bed is empty.
(e) Any vehicle with a gross weight of 8,000 or more pounds.
"Commissioner", when used alone, means the commissioner of transportation of the city.
"Compliance violation" means a violation of an ordinance listed in subsection (c) of Section 9-100-020 of this Code. Provided, however, that a violation of Section 9-76-230 shall not be deemed to be a compliance violation within the meaning of this definition if such violation is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 6-204 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, as amended.
"Controlled or limited-access highway" means every public way in respect to which owners or occupants of abutting property or lands and other persons have no legal right of access to or from the same except at such points and in such manner as may be determined by the public authority having jurisdiction over such public way.
"Crossing guard" means an adult civilian officially authorized to supervise and expedite the crossing of school children or other pedestrians at hazardous or congested traffic points.
"Crosswalk" means that portion of a roadway ordinarily included within the prolongation or connection of sidewalk lines at intersections, or any other portion of a roadway clearly indicated for pedestrian crossing by markings.
"Drag racing" means the act of: (1) two or more individuals competing or racing on any street, highway or other public way in a situation in which one of the motor vehicles is beside or to the rear of a motor vehicle operated by a competing driver and the one driver attempts to prevent the competing driver from passing or overtaking, either by acceleration or maneuver; or (2) one or more individuals competing in a race against time on any street, highway or other public way.
"Drifting" means a driving technique in which the driver of a motor vehicle, in the absence of an emergency, either: (1) causes the vehicle to spin, skid, slide, turn abruptly or sway upon acceleration or braking; or (2) uses or controls the vehicle’s throttle, brakes, clutch, gear shifting, steering input or other driving mechanisms, in any combination, to keep the vehicle in a state of oversteer while maneuvering the vehicle from turn to turn, or in circles, or in a figure eight, in a manner such that: (i) the rear slip angle of the wheels is greater than the front slip angle, and the front wheels are pointing in the opposite direction to the turn (e.g. the vehicle is turning left, wheels are pointed right); or (ii) the vehicle slides sideways through the turn(s); or (iii) the amount of countersteer (or opposite lock) coupled with the simultaneous modulation of the vehicle’s throttle and brakes shifts the weight balance of the vehicle back and forth through the turn(s); or (iv) any or all of the vehicle’s tires lose traction or grip on the road; or (v) an audible squeak or squeal sound coming from the vehicle’s wheel area occurs when the vehicle is in motion or when the brakes are applied.
"Driver" means every person who operates or is in actual physical control of a vehicle.
"Driveway or private road" 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 but not by other persons.
"Executive director" means the executive director of emergency management and communications.
"Firelane" means every way or place in private ownership used expressly for vehicular travel by emergency equipment and marked as such by signs or pavement markings.
"Funeral procession" means a procession consisting of motor vehicles which are designed and used for the carrying of not more than ten passengers, a funeral hearse and floral cars, or combinations thereof, with or without foot or equestrian units, proceeding to a funeral service or place of burial.
"Hazardous dilapidated motor vehicle" means any motor vehicle with a substantial number of essential parts, as defined by Section 1-118 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, either damaged, removed, altered or otherwise so treated that the vehicle is incapable of being driven under its own motor power or, which by its general state of deterioration, poses a threat to the public health, safety and welfare. "Hazardous dilapidated motor vehicle" shall not include a motor vehicle which has been rendered temporarily incapable of being driven under its own motor power in order to perform ordinary service or repairs.
"Highway" means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular traffic.
"Holidays." When used in the traffic code or on official signs erected by authority of the traffic code, the term "holidays" means New Year's Day (January 1st), Memorial Day (the last Monday in May), Independence Day (July 4th), Labor Day (the first Monday in September), Thanksgiving Day (the fourth Thursday in November) and Christmas Day (December 25th).
"Intersection" means the area embraced within the prolongation or connection of the property lines of two or more streets which join at an angle, whether or not one such street crosses the other. Where a highway includes two roadways 40 feet or more apart, every crossing of each roadway of such divided highway by an intersecting highway shall be regarded as a separate intersection.
"Junk vehicle" means any truck, automobile, or other motorized vehicle used to collect, dispose of, or transport junk, as defined in Section 4-6-150(a).
"Laned roadway" means a roadway which is divided into two or more marked lanes for vehicular traffic.
"Low-speed electric bicycle" means a bicycle, except equipped with an electric motor of less than 750 watts that meets the requirements of one of the following classes:
"Class 1 low-speed electric bicycle" means a low-speed electric bicycle that weighs less than 125 pounds and is equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and that ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches a speed of 20 miles per hour.
"Class 2 low-speed electric bicycle" means a low-speed electric bicycle that weighs less than 125 pounds and is equipped with a motor that can be used as the sole means to propel the bicycle and that is not capable of providing assistance when the bicycle reaches a speed of 20 miles per hour.
"Class 3 low-speed electric bicycle" means a low-speed electric bicycle equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and that ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches a speed of 28 miles per hour, or is a Class 1 or a Class 2 low-speed electric bicycle that weighs 125 pounds or more.
A "low-speed electric bicycle" is not a moped or a motor-driven cycle.
"Low-speed electric delivery bicycle" means a bicycle, except equipped with an electric motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and that ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches a speed of 15 miles per hour, that is not more than 4 feet wide, whose electric motor disengages when the rider stops pedaling, and that meets such other requirements and specifications as the Commissioner provides by Rule.
"Low-speed electric mobility device" means a device which: (i) has no operable pedals; (ii) is no more than 26 inches wide; (iii) weighs less than 100 pounds; (iv) is powered by an electric motor that is capable of propelling the device with or without human propulsion at a maximum speed of 15 miles per hour on a paved level surface; and (v) is intended for transporting one individual.
"Mass transportation vehicle" means a public passenger vehicle having seating capacity for 35 or more passengers.
"Merging traffic" means a maneuver executed by the drivers of vehicles on converging roadways to permit simultaneous or alternate entry into the junction thereof, wherein the driver of each vehicle involved is required to adjust his vehicular speed and lateral position so as to avoid a collision with any other vehicle.
"Mobile pay" means the payment for a product or service through an electronic device, such as a smartphone, where the electronic device is involved in both the initiation and confirmation of the payment.
"Motor" means a device that uses electricity, a petroleum product, or another fuel source to propel a vehicle or other conveyance.
"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 farm tractors, low-speed electric bicycles, low-speed electric delivery bicycles and low-speed electric mobility devices.
"Motor-driven cycle" means every motorcycle and every motor scooter with less than 150 cubic centimeter piston displacement or their electric equivalent, but does not include a low-speed electric bicycle or a low-speed electric delivery bicycle.
"Motor scooter" means a two-wheeled motor vehicle with a step-through frame, but does not include a low-speed electric bicycle or a low-speed electric mobility device.
"Motor vehicle" means every vehicle which is propelled by a motor.
"Motor vehicle of the first division" means every motor vehicle designed and used for the carrying of not more than ten persons.
"Motor vehicle of the second division" means every motor vehicle designed for the carrying of more than ten persons, every motor vehicle designed or used for living quarters, every motor vehicle designed for pulling or carrying freight or cargo, and every motor vehicle of the first division remodeled for use and used as a motor vehicle of the second division.
"Neighborhood electric vehicle" means a self- propelled, electrically powered four-wheeled motor vehicle which is capable of attaining on level pavement a speed of more than 20 miles per hour, but not more than 25 miles per hour, and which conforms to federal regulations under Title 49 C.F.R. Part 571.500. "Neighborhood electric vehicle" does not include a vehicle modified after its original manufacture to meet the speed requirement or safety equipment requirements contained in Title 49 C.F.R. Part 571.500.
"Non-highway vehicle" means a motor vehicle not specifically designed to be used on a public highway, including: (1) an all-terrain vehicle, as defined by Section 1-101.8 of the Illinois Vehicle Code; (2) a golf cart, as defined by Section 1-123.9 of the Illinois Vehicle Code; (3) an off-highway motorcycle, as defined by Section 1-153.1 of the Illinois Vehicle Code; and (4) a recreational off-highway vehicle, as defined by Section 1-168.8 of the Illinois Vehicle Code.
"One-way street or alley" means a public way upon the roadway of which traffic is permitted to travel in one direction only.
"Operator" means every person who operates or is in actual physical control of any device or vehicle whether motorized or propelled by human power.
"Parking (to park)" means the standing of an unoccupied vehicle otherwise than temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaged in loading or unloading property or passengers.
"Parking meter" means a traffic control device which, upon being activated by deposit of currency of the United States, or by electronic or other form of payment, in the amount indicated thereon or otherwise, either: (1) displays a signal showing that parking is allowed from the time of such activation until the expiration of the time fixed for parking in the parking meter zone in which it is located, and upon expiration of such time indicates by sign or signal that the lawful parking period has expired; or (2) issues a ticket or other token, or activates a display device, on which is printed or otherwise indicated the lawful parking period in the parking meter zone in which the parking meter is located, such ticket, other token, or display device, to be displayed in a publicly visible location on the dashboard or inner windshield of a vehicle parked in the parking meter zone, or such ticket to be affixed on a motorcycle or motor scooter parked in the parking meter zone; or (3) issues an electronic receipt through a virtual network which validates payment of the fee for a specific parking meter on a separate device.
“Parking meter zone” means a section of the public way designated by marked boundaries within which a vehicle may temporarily stop, stand, or park and be allowed to remain for such period of time as the parking meter attached thereto, or the ticket, other token, display device or electronic receipt issued by the parking meter, may indicate.
“Parkway” means any portion of a street not considered as roadway, sidewalk, driveway or private road.
"Pedestrian" means any person afoot or any "pedestrian with a disability", as that term is defined in Section 5 of the Illinois Pedestrians with Disabilities Safety Act, codified at 625 ILCS 60/5.
"Play street" means a street or part of a street devoted to recreational purposes.
"Police officer" means every sworn officer of the municipal police department.
"Property line" means the line marking the boundary between any public way and the private property abutting thereon.
"Public building" means a building used by any government agency.
"Public passenger vehicle" means a motor vehicle which is used for the transportation of passengers for hire.
"Public way" means any sidewalk, roadway, alley or other public thoroughfare open to the use of the public, as a matter of right, for purposes of travel, excepting bridle paths.
"Push cart" means a conveyance designed to be propelled by a person afoot.
"Railroad" means a carrier of persons or property upon cars operated upon stationary rails.
"Railroad train" means a steam engine, electric or other motor with or without cars coupled thereto, operated upon rails.
"Recreational vehicle" means every camping trailer, motor home, mini-motor home, travel trailer, truck or van camper used primarily for recreational purposes and not used commercially nor owned and used by a commercial business.
"Registered owner" means the person in whose name the vehicle is registered with the Secretary of State of Illinois or such other state's registry of motor vehicles.
"Residential street" means the length of any street between street intersections when 50 percent or more of the occupied frontage of the street is in use for residence purposes.
"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 or collision unless one grants precedence to the other.
"Roadway" means that portion of a public way between the regularly established curb lines, or that part improved, and intended to be used for vehicular travel.
"School bus" means every motor vehicle of the second division operated by or for a public or governmental agency or by or for a private or religious organization solely for the transportation of pupils in connection with any school activity.
"Semi-trailer" means every vehicle without motive power 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.
"Service drive" means a narrow portion of a public way open to vehicular traffic for the purpose of providing access to the front of abutting property between intersections and separated by physical means from through traffic, if the latter exists, on the same public way.
"Sidewalk" means that portion of a public way between the curb, or the lateral lines of the roadway, and the adjacent property lines, intended for the use of pedestrians.
"Standing (to stand)" 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.
"Stop" means the complete cessation of movement.
"Street" means the entire width between boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of general traffic circulation.
"Taxicab stand" means a fixed area in the roadway alongside and parallel to the curb set aside for taxicabs to stand or wait for passengers.
"Through street" means every public way or portion thereof on which vehicular traffic is given preferential right-of-way, and at the entrance to which vehicular traffic from intersecting public ways is required by law to yield right-of-way to vehicles on such through street in obedience to a traffic signal, stop sign or yield sign, when such traffic control devices are erected as provided in the traffic code.
"Traffic" means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, bicycles, vehicles, and other conveyances either singly or together while using any public way for purposes of travel.
"Traffic control aide" means any person designated by the superintendent of police or the executive director of emergency management and communications to exercise the power of a police officer to direct or regulate traffic or to issue citations for violation of parking and compliance ordinances.
"Traffic control devices" means all signs, signals, markings, and devices placed or erected under authority of the City Council or located on property owned or controlled by a Sister Agency as that term is defined in Section 1-23-010, or the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, for the purpose of regulating, warning, or guiding traffic.
"Traffic violation" means a violation of the provisions of Chapter 9-4 through 9-100, other than a standing or parking violation, or a violation of Chapter 9-72. A compliance violation observed on a vehicle operated on the public way may be treated as a traffic violation, if the operator of the vehicle is also charged with a criminal offense. The superintendent of police shall issue standards for the treatment of a compliance violation as a traffic violation.
"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.
"Truck tractor" has the meaning ascribed to the term in the Illinois Vehicle Code, 625 ILCS 5/1-212.
"Vehicle" means every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a street or highway, except motorized wheelchairs, low-speed electric bicycles, low-speed electric delivery bicycle, low-speed electric mobility devices, devices moved solely by human power, devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks, and snowmobiles, as defined in the Snowmobile Registration and Safety Act of Illinois.
"Yield right-of-way" means the act of granting the privilege of the immediate use of the intersecting roadway to traffic within the intersection and to vehicles approaching from the right or left.
(Added Coun. J. 7-12-90, p. 18634; Amend Coun. J. 9-11-91, p. 5008; Amend Coun. J. 12-11-91, p. 10832; Amend Coun. J. 3-26-96, p. 19161, effective 1-1-97; Amend Coun. J. 10-28-97, p. 54839; Amend Coun. J. 4-29-98, p. 66564; Amend Coun. J. 12-4-02, p. 99026, § 8.7; Amend Coun. J. 7-9-03, p. 4349, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 7-29-03, p. 6166, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 9-4-03, p. 7167, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-19-03, p. 13426, § 3.1; Amend Coun. J. 12-7-05, p. 64870, § 1.9; Amend Coun. J. 4-11-07, p. 102914, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-5-08, p. 43707, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 12-4-08, p. 50506, § 8; Amend Coun. J. 2-11-09, p. 55024, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 7-6-11, p. 3026, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 4-18-12, p. 23762, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 6-5-13, p. 54082, § 6; Amend Coun. J. 6-5-13, p. 54983, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 10-28-15, p. 11951, Art. I, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-16, p. 38042, Art. IV, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-21-17, p. 61755, Art. VIII, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 4-10-19, p. 99061, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 7-24-19, p. 2674, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-26-19, p. 11514, Art. IV, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 10-7-20, p. 21525, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 4-21-21, p. 29728, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 7-21-21, p. 32789, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 9-21-22, p. 51997, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 6-18-25, p. 29762, § 1)