As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
Persons issued a Class H or hardship license, who are at least fifteen (15) years of age, shall be extended the privileges provided above for persons issued a Class P-D license, when all provisions above are met;
“Driver license endorsements” means special authorizations required to be displayed on a driver license that permit the driver to operate certain types of motor vehicles or motor vehicles hauling certain types of cargo:
Multiple Trailer Endorsement. This endorsement is required on a Class A license to permit the licensee to operate a vehicle authorized to pull more than one (1) trailer in accordance with chapter 7 of this title;
Passenger Endorsement. This endorsement is required on a Class A, B, or C license to permit the licensee to operate a vehicle designed to transport more than fifteen (15) passengers, including the driver;
Cargo Tank Endorsement. This endorsement is required on a Class A or C license to permit the licensee to operate a vehicle that is designed to transport, as its primary cargo, any liquid or gaseous material within a tank attached to the vehicle, the tank having a designed capacity of one thousand gallons (1,000 gals.) or more;
Hazardous Material Endorsement. This endorsement is required on any class license if the driver is operating a vehicle transporting a hazardous material that is required to be placarded under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (U.S.C. § 5101 et seq.), and by rules and regulations of the United States department of transportation;
School Bus Endorsement. This endorsement is required on any class license to permit the licensee to operate any vehicle being used as a school bus; and
For-Hire Endorsement. This endorsement is required to permit a licensee to operate a Class D vehicle as a chauffeur;
“Employee” means an operator of a commercial motor vehicle, including an owner-operator or other independent contractor while in the course of operating a commercial motor vehicle, who is employed by an employer;
“Employer” means any person, including the United States, a state, or a political subdivision of a state, who owns or leases a commercial motor vehicle or assigns employees to operate such a vehicle;
“Farm tractors” means every motor vehicle designated and used primarily as a farm implement for drawing plows, mowing machines, and other implements of husbandry;
“Felony” means any offense under state or federal law that is punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one (1) year;
“Full legal name” means an individual's first name, middle name or names and last name or surname, without use of initials or nicknames;
“Gross combination weight rating (G.C.W.R.)” means the value specified by the manufacturer as the maximum loaded weight of a combination (articulated) vehicle. In the absence of a value specified by the manufacturer, G.C.W.R. will be determined by adding the G.V.W.R. of the power unit and the total weight of the towed unit and any load thereon;
“Gross vehicle weight rating (G.V.W.R.)” means the value specified by the manufacturer as the maximum loaded weight of a single vehicle. In the absence of a value specified by the manufacturer, the G.V.W.R. will be determined by the actual gross weight;
“Hazardous materials” means any material that has been designated as hazardous under 49 U.S.C. § 5103 and is required to be placarded under subpart F of 49 CFR Part 172 or any quantity of a material listed as a select agent or toxin in 42 CFR Part 73;
“Highway” means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained that is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel, or the premises of any shopping center, trailer park or apartment house complex or any other premises frequented by the public at large;
“Lawful permanent resident” means the status of having been lawfully accorded the privilege of residing permanently in the United States as an immigrant in accordance with the immigration laws, such status not having changed;
“Learner's permit” means a special permit that is issued allowing minors fifteen (15) years of age to drive automobiles when accompanied by a licensed parent, guardian, or certified driving instructor;
“Low speed vehicle” means any four-wheeled electric vehicle whose top speed is greater than twenty miles per hour (20 mph) but not greater than twenty-five miles per hour (25 mph), including neighborhood vehicles. Low speed vehicles must comply with the safety standards in 49 CFR 571.500;
“Medium speed vehicle” means any four-wheeled electric vehicle whose top speed is greater than thirty miles per hour (30 mph), but whose maximum speed allowed is thirty-five miles per hour (35 mph) only on streets with a forty mile per hour (40 mph) or less posted speed limit pursuant to § 55-8-191(b)(1), including neighborhood vehicles. Medium speed vehicles must meet or exceed the federal safety standards set forth in 49 CFR 571.500, except as otherwise provided in § 55-4-136;
“Motor driven cycle” means “motor driven cycle” as defined in § 55-8-101;
“Motor vehicle” means a vehicle, low speed vehicle or medium speed vehicle as defined in this section, machine, tractor, trailer or semitrailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power used on highways or any other vehicle required to be registered under the laws of this state, but does not include any vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer or semitrailer operated exclusively on a rail;
“Motorcycle” means “motorcycle” as defined in § 55-8-101;
“Motorcycle learner's permit” means a special permit that is issued allowing minors fifteen (15) years of age to drive motorcycles after successfully passing the motorcycle operator's license examination or when enrolled in a certified motorcycle rider education program;
“Motorized bicycle” means “motorized bicycle” as defined in § 55-8-101;
“Motorscooter” means “motorscooter” as included in the definition of “motor-driven cycle” in § 55-8-101;
“Nonresident” means every person who is not a resident of the state;
“Operator” means every person, other than a chauffeur, who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle upon a highway or who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle;
“Owner” means a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purposes of this chapter;
“Person” means every natural person, firm, copartnership, association or corporation;
“Recreational vehicle” means every motor vehicle primarily designed as temporary living quarters for recreational camping or travel, as defined in ANSI Standards A119.2 and A119.5. The basic entities are: travel trailer, camping trailer, truck camper, motor home and park trailer;
“Resident” means every person that lives in this state for a period of time exceeding thirty (30) days, has taken employment, or who would qualify as a registered voter, or has taken action to establish Tennessee as principal place of domicile;
“Revocation of driver license” means the termination by formal action of the department of a person's driver license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle on the public highways, which termination shall not be subject to renewal or restoration except that an application for a new license may be presented and acted upon by the department after the expiration of at least one (1) year after the date of revocation;
“School bus” means every motor vehicle operated for the transportation of children to or from school or school-related activities and is operated for compensation;
“Secretary” means the secretary of transportation of the United States;
“Serious traffic violation” means:
Excessive speeding, as defined by the secretary by regulation;
Reckless, careless or negligent driving, as defined under § 55-10-205;
A violation of any state or local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control, other than a parking violation, arising in connection with an accident or collision resulting in death or personal injury to any person, or property damage;
Driving a commercial motor vehicle without obtaining a commercial driver license;
Driving a commercial motor vehicle without a commercial driver license in the driver's possession;
Driving a commercial motor vehicle without the proper class of commercial driver license and endorsements for the specific vehicle group being operated or for the passengers or type of cargo being transported; or
Any other violation of a state or local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control, other than a parking violation, that the secretary determines by regulation to be serious;
“State” means:
For the purposes of commercial driver licenses, a state of the United States and the District of Columbia;
For all other purposes, a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;
“Suspension of driver license” means the temporary withdrawal by formal action of the department of a person's driver license or privilege to operate a motor vehicle on the public highways, which temporary withdrawal shall be for a period specifically designated by the department, not to exceed six (6) months for any first offense, except as provided otherwise under law;
“Temporary driver license” means a license issued by the department to an individual that authorizes the individual to operate a motor vehicle on the highways for the individual's authorized period of stay in the United States or, if there is no definite end to the period of authorized stay, a period of one (1) year;
“United States” means the fifty (50) states and the District of Columbia;
“Vehicle” means every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks; and
“Violation” means a conviction except as otherwise provided in § 55-50-504(g).