(A) No owner shall knowingly operate or permit to be operated on a highway a motor vehicle upon which the breaks are defective.
(B) Every motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with brakes, adequate to control the movement of and to stop and hold the vehicle. There shall be two separate means of applying the brakes, each of which means shall be effective to apply the brakes on at least two wheels. If the two separate means are connected in any way, they shall be so constructed that failure of one part of the operating mechanism shall not leave the motor vehicle without brake on at least two wheels.
(C) (1) The service brakes upon any motor vehicle or combination of vehicles shall be adequate to stop the vehicle when traveling 20 mph within a distance of 30 feet when upon dry asphalt or concrete pavement surface free from loose material where the grade does not exceed 1%.
(2) Under the conditions described in division (C)(1) above, the hand brake shall be adequate to stop the vehicle within a distance of 55 feet and the hand brake shall be adequate to hold the vehicle stationary on any grade upon which it is operated.
(3) Under the conditions described in division (C)(1) above, the service brakes upon a motor vehicle equipped with two wheel brakes only shall be adequate to stop the vehicle within a distance of 40 feet and the hand brake adequate to stop the vehicle within a distance of 55 feet.
(4) All braking distances specified in this section shall apply whether or not the vehicles are loaded to the maximum capacity permitted by law.
(5) All brakes shall be maintained in good working order and shall be so adjusted so as to operate equally practicable with respect to the wheels on opposite sides of the vehicle.
(D) No person shall operate any semitrailer on a highway unless it is equipped with efficient brakes that may be operated’ by the operator of the truck or tractor to which the semitrailer is attached.
(KRS 189.090) (1980 Code, § 560.1-8) Penalty, see § 70.99