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Lancaster Overview
Codified Ordinances of Lancaster, OH
CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF LANCASTER, OHIO
ROSTER OF OFFICIALS
ADOPTING ORDINANCE
EDITOR'S NOTE
COMPARATIVE SECTION TABLE
TABLES OF SPECIAL ORDINANCES OF LANCASTER
PART ONE - ADMINISTRATIVE CODE
PART THREE - TRAFFIC CODE
PART FIVE - GENERAL OFFENSES CODE
PART SEVEN - BUSINESS REGULATION CODE
PART NINE - STREETS, UTILITIES AND PUBLIC SERVICES CODE
PART ELEVEN - PLANNING AND ZONING CODE
PART THIRTEEN - BUILDING CODE
PART FIFTEEN - FIRE PREVENTION CODE
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339.05 WHEEL PROTECTORS.
   (a)   No person shall drive or operate, or cause to be driven or operated, any commercial car, trailer or semitrailer, used for the transportation of goods or property, the gross weight of which, with load, exceeds three tons, upon the streets, bridges and culverts within this Municipality unless such vehicle is equipped with suitable metal protectors or substantial flexible flaps on the rearmost wheels of such vehicle or combination of vehicles to prevent, as far as practicable, the wheels from throwing dirt, water or other materials on the windshields of following vehicles. Such protectors or flaps shall have a ground clearance of not more than one- third of the distance from the center of the rearmost axle to the center of the flaps under any conditions of loading of the vehicle, and they shall be at least as wide as the tires they are protecting. If the vehicle is so designed and constructed that such requirements are accomplished by means of fenders, body construction or other means of enclosure, then no such protectors or flaps are required. Rear wheels not covered at the top by fenders, bodies or other parts of the vehicle shall be covered at the top by protective means extending at least to the center line of the rearmost axle.
(ORC 5577.11)
   (b)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
339.06 VEHICLES TRANSPORTING EXPLOSIVES.
   (a)   Any person operating any vehicle transporting explosives upon a street or highway shall at all times comply with the following requirements:
      (1)   Such vehicle shall be marked or placarded on each side and on the rear with the word "EXPLOSIVES" in letters not less than eight inches high, or there shall be displayed on the rear of such vehicle a red flag not less than twenty-four inches square marked with the word "DANGER" in white letters six inches high, or shall be marked or placarded in accordance with Section 177.823 of the United States Department of Transportation Regulations.
      (2)   Such vehicle shall be equipped with not less than two fire extinguishers, filled and ready for immediate use, and placed at convenient points on such vehicle. (ORC 4513.29)
   (b)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(ORC 4513.99)
339.07 TOWING REQUIREMENTS.
   (a)   When one vehicle is towing another vehicle, the drawbar or other connection shall be of sufficient strength to pull all weight towed thereby, and such drawbar or other connection shall not exceed fifteen feet from one vehicle to the other, except the connection between any two vehicles transporting poles, pipe, machinery or other objects of structural nature which cannot readily be dismembered.
   (b)   When one vehicle is towing another and the connection consists only of a chain, rope or cable, there shall be displayed upon such connection a white flag or cloth not less than twelve inches square.
   (c)   In addition to such drawbar or other connection, each trailer and each semitrailer which is not connected to a commercial tractor by means of a fifth wheel shall be coupled with stay chains or cables to the vehicle by which it is being drawn. The chains or cables shall be of sufficient size and strength to prevent the towed vehicle's parting from the drawing vehicle in case the drawbar or other connection should break or become disengaged. In case of a loaded pole trailer, the connecting pole to the drawing vehicle shall be coupled to the drawing vehicle with stay chains or cables of sufficient size and strength to prevent the towed vehicle's parting from the drawing vehicle.
   (d)   Every trailer or semitrailer, except pole and cable trailers and pole and cable dollies operated by a public utility, as defined in Ohio R.C. 5727.01, shall be equipped with a coupling device which shall be so designed and constructed that the trailer will follow substantially in the path of the vehicle drawing it, without whipping or swerving from side to side. Vehicles used to transport agricultural produce or agricultural production materials between a local place of storage and supply and the farm, when drawn or towed on a street or highway at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour or less, and vehicles designed and used exclusively to transport a boat between a place of storage and a marina, or in and around a marina, when drawn or towed on a street or highway for a distance of no more than ten miles and at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour or less shall have a drawbar or other connection, including the hitch mounted on the towing vehicle, which shall be of sufficient strength to pull all the weight towed thereby. Only one such vehicle used to transport agricultural produce or agricultural production materials as provided in this section may be towed or drawn at one time, except as follows:
      (1)   An agricultural tractor may tow or draw more than one such vehicle;
      (2)   A pickup truck or straight truck designed by the manufacturer to carry a load of not less than one-half ton and not more than two tons may tow or draw not more than two such vehicles that are being used to transport agricultural produce from the farm to a local place of storage. No vehicle being so towed by such a pickup truck or straight truck shall be considered to be a motor vehicle. (ORC 4513.32)
   (e)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(ORC 4513.99)
339.08 LOADS DROPPING OR LEAKING; REMOVAL REQUIRED; TRACKING MUD.
   (a)   No vehicle shall be driven or moved on any street, highway or other public place unless such vehicle is so constructed, loaded or covered as to prevent any of its load from dropping, sifting, leaking or otherwise escaping therefrom, except that sand or other substances may be dropped for the purpose of securing traction, or water or other substances may be sprinkled on a roadway in cleaning or maintaining such roadway.
   (b)   Except for a farm vehicle used to transport agricultural produce or agricultural production materials or a rubbish vehicle in the process of acquiring its load, no vehicle loaded with garbage, swill, cans, bottles, waste paper, ashes, refuse, trash, rubbish, waste, wire, paper, cartons, boxes, glass, solid waste or any other material of an unsanitary nature that is susceptible to blowing or bouncing from a moving vehicle shall be driven or moved on any street, highway or other public place unless the load is covered with a sufficient cover to prevent the load or any part of the load from spilling onto the street, highway or other public place.
(ORC 4513.31)
   (c)   No person shall operate any vehicle so as to track or drop mud, stones, gravel or other similar material on any street, highway or other public place.
   (d)   It shall be the duty of the driver of a vehicle who unlawfully drops or deposits mud, stones, gravel or other similar material or permits the load or any portion thereof to be dropped or deposited upon any street, highway or other public place to immediately remove the same or cause it to be removed. (ORC 4513.31)
   (e)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(ORC 4513.99)
339.09 SHIFTING LOAD; LOOSE LOADS.
   (a)   In addition to any other lawful requirements of load distribution, no person shall operate any vehicle upon a street or highway unless such vehicle is so laden as to prevent its contents from shifting or otherwise unbalancing the vehicle to such an extent as to interfere with the safe operation of the same.
   (b)   No motor vehicle or trailer shall be driven unless the tailboard or tailgate, tarpaulins, chains (except ground or contact chains), ropes, stakes, poles, and the like, or any part of the load, are securely fastened to prevent dangling, flapping, swinging or falling from the side, end or top of the load or body. All projecting cargo shall be properly guarded by a red flag or cloth or a red light or lantern as required by Section 337.08.
   (c)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on a first offense; on a second offense within one year after the first offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree; on each subsequent offense within one year after the first offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.
339.10 VEHICLES WITH SPIKES, LUGS AND CHAINS.
   (a)   No person shall drive over the improved streets of this Municipality a traction engine or tractor with tires or wheels equipped with ice picks, spuds, spikes, chains or other projections of any kind extending beyond the cleats, or no person shall tow or in any way pull another vehicle over the improved streets of this Municipality, which towed or pulled vehicle has tires or wheels equipped with ice picks, spuds, spikes, chains or other projections of any kind. "Traction engine" or "tractor," as used in this section, applies to all self-propelling engines equipped with metal-tired wheels operated or propelled by any form of engine, motor or mechanical power.
(ORC 5589.08)
   (b)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(ORC 5589.99)
339.11 USE OF STUDDED TIRES AND CHAINS.
   (a)   For purposes of this section, "studded tire" means any tire designed for use on a vehicle, and equipped with metal studs or studs of wear-resisting material that project beyond the tread of the traction surface of the tire. "Motor vehicle," "street or highway," "public safety vehicle" and "school bus" have the same meanings as given those terms in Chapter 301.
   (b)   (1)   Except as provided in subsection (b)(2) hereof, no person shall operate any motor vehicle, other than a public safety vehicle or bus, that is equipped with studded tires on any street or highway, except during the period extending from November 1 of each year through April 15 of the succeeding year.
      (2)   A person may operate a motor vehicle that is equipped with retractable studded tires with the studs retracted at any time of the year, but shall operate the motor vehicle with the studs extended only as provided in subsection (b)(1) hereof.
   (c)   This section does not apply to the use of tire chains when there is snow or ice on the streets or highways where such chains are being used, or the immediate vicinity thereof. (ORC 5589.081)
   (d)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(ORC 5589.99)
339.12 WEIGHING VEHICLE AND REMOVING EXCESS LOAD.
   (a)   Any police officer having reason to believe that the weight of a vehicle and load is unlawful is authorized to require the driver to stop and submit to a weighing of the same either by means of portable or stationary scales, and may require that such vehicle be driven to the nearest public scales, provided such scales are within three miles of the point where such vehicle is stopped.
   (b)   Whenever such officer upon weighing a vehicle and load, as above provided, determines that the weight is unlawful, such officer may require the driver to stop the vehicle in a suitable place and remain standing until such portion of the load is removed as may be necessary to reduce the weight of such vehicle to such limit as is permitted under this Traffic Code.
(ORC 4513.33; Ord. 4-52. Passed 1-22-52.)
339.13 ENGINE RETARDERS PROHIBITED.
   (a)   The usage of any and all “Engine Retarders” shall be prohibited within the City of Lancaster.
   (b)   “Engine Retarders” shall be defined to include, but not limited to C Brakes, PacBrakes, TekBrakes, Jake Brakes, and any other type of engine retarder commonly utilized within the trucking industry.
   (c)   Any violation of this prohibition shall be deemed a minor misdemeanor.
   (d)   Emergency vehicles and school buses as defined and regulated in Ohio R.C. Chapter 4511 are exempted from this section.
(Ord. 10-10. Passed 7-20-10.)