HRS §291C-1 Definitions
291C-1. Definitions
As used in this chapter:
"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.
"Arterial street" means any United
States or state numbered route, controlled-access highway, or other major
radial or circumferential street or highway designated by counties within their
respective jurisdictions as part of a major arterial system of streets or
highways.
"Authorized emergency vehicle"
includes fire department vehicles, police vehicles, ambulances, ocean safety
vehicles, law enforcement vehicles, conservation and resources enforcement
vehicles, and office of the state fire marshal vehicles authorized and approved
pursuant to section 291-31.5 that are publicly owned and other publicly or
privately owned vehicles designated as such by a county council.
"Bicycle" means:
(1) A vehicle propelled solely by human power upon
which any person may ride, having two tandem wheels, and including any vehicle
generally recognized as a bicycle though equipped with two front or two rear
wheels except a toy bicycle; or
(2) A low-speed electric bicycle, as defined under
title 15 United States Code section 2085.
"Bicycle lane" means that portion of
any highway which has been set aside for the preferential or exclusive use of
bicycles.
"Bicycle path" means any facility set
aside for the preferential or exclusive use of bicycles and physically
separated from a highway.
"Bicycle route" means any highway
that is designated to be shared by bicycles and pedestrians or motor vehicles,
or both.
"Bikeway" means a bicycle lane,
bicycle path, or bicycle route, or any traffic control device, shelter, parking
facility, or other support facility to serve bicycles and persons using
bicycles.
"Bodily injury" means physical pain,
illness, or any impairment of physical condition.
"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 school bus or a taxicab,
designed and used for the transportation of persons for compensation.
"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.
"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.
"Crosswalk" means:
(1) 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; or
(2) Any portion of a roadway at an intersection or
elsewhere distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other
markings on the surface.
"Dangerous wheels" means any wheel,
wheel cover, hubcap, lug nut cover or cap, prong, or any ornamentation affixed
to any of the aforementioned items that extends at least four inches beyond the
portion of the wheel rim that extends furthest away from the vehicle and that
may cause injury or property damage by minimal contact with a person or object.
"Driver" means every person who
drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle.
"Electric foot
scooter" means a device:
(1) Weighing less than seventy-five pounds;
(2) With two or three wheels;
(3) With handlebars;
(4) With either:
(A) A floorboard that can be stood upon while
riding; or
(B) A seat or saddle for the use of the rider
and stationary footrests;
(5) That is powered by an electric motor or human
power; and
(6) Whose maximum speed, with or without human
propulsion on a paved level surface, does not exceed fifteen miles per hour.
"Electric foot scooter" does not include
foot-powered scooters that do not have a motor.
"Electric personal assistive mobility
device" means a self-balancing, two-wheeled, non-tandem-wheeled device,
designed to transport only one person, using an electric propulsion system that
limits the maximum speed of the device to twelve and a half miles per hour or
less.
"Highway" means the entire width
between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained and those private
streets, as defined in section 46-16, over which the application of this
chapter has been extended by ordinance, when any part thereof is open to the use
of the public for purposes of vehicular travel.
"House trailer" means:
(1) A trailer or semitrailer which is designed,
constructed, and equipped as a dwelling place, living abode, or sleeping place
(either permanently or temporarily) and is equipped for use as a conveyance on
streets and highways; or
(2) A trailer or a semitrailer whose chassis and
exterior shell is designed and constructed for use as a house trailer, as
defined in paragraph (1), but which is used instead permanently or temporarily
for the advertising, sales, display, or promotion of merchandise or services,
or for any other commercial purpose except the transportation of property for
hire or the transportation of property for distribution by a private carrier.
"Intersection" means 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.
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. The junction of an alley with a street or
highway shall not constitute an intersection.
"Laned roadway" means roadway which
is divided into two or more clearly marked lanes for vehicular traffic.
"Moped" means a device upon which a
person may ride that has:
(1) Two or three wheels in contact with the ground;
(2) A motor having a maximum power output capability
measured at the motor output shaft, in accordance with SAE International
standards, of two horsepower (one thousand four hundred ninety-two 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 that will propel the device,
unassisted, on a level surface at a maximum speed no greater than thirty miles
per hour; and
(3) A direct or automatic power drive system that
requires no clutch or gear shift operation by the moped driver after the drive
system is engaged with the power unit.
"Moped" does not include an electric foot
scooter.
"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 excludes a farm
tractor and a moped.
"Motor scooter" means:
(1) Every motor vehicle that has a handlebar and
seating that requires the operator to straddle or sit astride on it and is
designed to travel on no more than three wheels in contact with the ground, but
excludes a farm tractor; or
(2) Every motor vehicle that has a steering wheel and
seating that does not require the operator to straddle or sit astride on it,
and is designed to travel on three wheels in contact with the ground, called an
autocycle, which is certified by the manufacturer to comply with all applicable
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards as of the date of manufacture,
with a motor that produces no more than five
horsepower, but excludes a moped.
"Motor vehicle" means every vehicle
which is self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power
but not operated upon rails but excludes a moped.
"Neighborhood
electric vehicle" means a self-propelled electrically powered motor
vehicle to which all of the following apply:
(1) The vehicle
is emission free;
(2) The vehicle is designed to be and is operated at
speeds of twenty-five miles per hour or less;
(3) The vehicle has four wheels in contact with the
ground;
(4) The vehicle has a gross vehicle weight rating of
less than three thousand pounds; and
(5) The vehicle
conforms to the minimum safety equipment requirements as adopted in the Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 500, Low Speed Vehicles (49 C.F.R. 571.500).
"Official traffic-control devices"
mean all signs, signals, markings, and devices not inconsistent with this
chapter placed or erected by authority or with the consent of a public body or
official having jurisdiction, for the purpose of regulating, warning, or
guiding traffic.
"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.
"Park" or "parking" means
the standing of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, otherwise than temporarily
for the purpose of and while actually engaged in loading or unloading
merchandise or passengers.
"Pedestrian" means any person afoot,
in an invalid chair, or in a vehicle propelled by a person afoot.
"Police officer" means every officer
authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of
traffic regulations.
"Private road or 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, but not by
other persons.
"Railroad" means a carrier of persons
or property upon cars operated upon stationary rails.
"Railroad sign or signal" means any
sign, signal, or device erected by authority of a public body or official or by
a railroad and intended to give notice of the presence of railroad tracks or
the approach of a railroad train.
"Railroad train" means a steam
engine, electric or other motor, with or without cars coupled thereto, operated
upon rails.
"Residence 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 three hundred feet
or more is in the main improved with residences or residences and buildings in
use for business.
"Right-of-way" means the right of one
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 grants precedence
to the other.
"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" as used herein refers to any such roadway
separately but not to all such roadways collectively.
"Safety zone" means the area or space
officially set apart within a roadway for the exclusive use of pedestrians and
which is protected or is so marked or indicated by adequate signs as to be
plainly visible at all times while set apart as a safety zone.
"School bus" means every motor
vehicle as defined in section 286-181 and any regulations promulgated pursuant
thereto by the department of education.
"Serious bodily injury" means bodily
injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious,
permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of
any bodily member or organ.
"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.
"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.
"Stop" when required means complete
cessation from movement.
"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.
"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 vehicular travel.
"Substantial bodily injury" means
bodily injury that causes:
(1) A major avulsion, laceration, or penetration of
the skin;
(2) A chemical, electrical,
friction, or scalding burn of second degree severity;
(3) A bone fracture;
(4) A serious concussion; or
(5) A tearing, rupture, or corrosive damage to the
esophagus, viscera, or other internal organs.
"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.
"Toy bicycle" means every device
propelled solely by human power upon which any person may ride, having two
tandem wheels, including any device generally recognized as a bicycle though
equipped with two front or two rear wheels, which has a seat height of not more
than twenty-five inches from the ground when the seat is adjusted to its
highest position; or a scooter or similar device regardless of seat height.
"Traffic" means pedestrians, ridden
or herded animals, vehicles, and other conveyances either singly or together
while using any highway for purposes of travel.
"Traffic-control signal" means any
device, whether manually, electrically, or mechanically operated, by which
traffic is alternately directed to stop and permitted to proceed.
"Urban district" means the territory
contiguous to and including any street which is built up with structures
devoted to business, industry, or dwelling houses situated at intervals of less
than one hundred feet for a distance of a quarter of a mile or more.
"Vehicle" means every device in,
upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon
a roadway or highway, including mopeds and bicycles, but excluding toy
bicycles, devices other than bicycles moved by human power, and devices used exclusively
upon stationary rails or tracks.
[L 1971, c 150, pt of §1; am L 1974, c 133,
§1; am L 1975, c 187, §4; am L 1976, c 148, §2; am L 1978, c 39, §1 and c 175,
§§9, 10, 11; am L 1984, c 273, §3; am L 1990, c 43, §3; am L 1992, c 243, §3;
am L 1995, c 173, §3; am L 1999, c 262, §3(2); am L 2003, c 112, §1 and c 180,
§3; am L 2007, c 109, §2; am L 2014, c 23, §2; am L 2016, c 99, §2 and c 100,
§3; am L 2019, c 208, §5; am L 2020, c 70, §42; am L 2021, c 174, §6 and c 214,
§6; am L 2022, c 109, §7 and c 278, §46; am L 2025, c 302, §16]