For the purpose of this title, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
AMBULANCE. Vehicle equipped for transporting wounded, injured or sick persons.
AUTHORIZED. Official; by authority of the Board of Commissioners, or by authority of the State Department of Transportation.
AUTHORIZED EMERGENCY VEHICLE.
(1) A vehicle operated by a police officer, highway patrol officer, sheriff or deputy;
(2) A fire department vehicle traveling in response to a fire alarm; or
(4) An ambulance as defined above traveling in an emergency.
INTERSECTION. The area embraced within the prolongation of the lateral curblines or, if none, then the lateral edge of roadway lines of two or more highways which join one another at any angle whether or not one such highway crosses the other. Where a highway includes two roadways 30 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 that such intersecting highway also includes two roadways 30 feet or more apart, then every crossing of two roadways of such highways shall be regarded as a separate INTERSECTION.
MOTOR VEHICLE. Every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle designed to run upon the highways which is pulled by a self-propelled vehicle. This shall not include mopeds as defined in G.S. § 20-4.01(27).
OFFICIAL TRAFFIC-CONTROL DEVICES. All signs, signals, markings and devices not inconsistent with this title placed or erected by authority of the Chief of Police or the State Commissioner of Public Safety, for the purpose of regulating, warning or guiding traffic or for the purpose of prohibiting or regulating the parking of vehicles.
OFFICIAL TRAFFIC SIGNAL. Any device, whether manually, electrically or mechanically operated, placed or erected by authority of the Town Board of Commissioners or the State Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, by which traffic is alternately directed to stop and go.
POLICE OFFICER. Every officer of the Town Police Department or any officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of traffic regulations.
STREET, HIGHWAY or ROADWAY.
(1) HIGHWAY. The entire width between property or right-of-way lines of every way or place of whatever nature, when any part thereof is open to the use of the public as a matter of right for the purposes of vehicular traffic. The terms HIGHWAY and STREET and their cognates are synonymous.
(2) ROADWAY. That portion of a highway improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the shoulder. In the event a highway includes two or more separate roadways the term ROADWAY as used herein shall refer to any such roadway separately but not to all such roadways collectively.
(3) STREET. A highway, as defined in division (1) above. The terms HIGHWAY and STREET and their cognates are synonymous.
VEHICLE. Every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon fixed rails or tracks; provided, that for the purposes of this Traffic Code, bicycles shall be deemed vehicles and every rider of a bicycle upon a highway shall be subject to the provisions of this Traffic Code applicable to the driver of a vehicle except those which by their nature can have no application. This term shall not include a device which is designed for and intended to be used as a means of transportation for a person with a mobility impairment, is suitable for use both inside and outside a building, and whose maximum speed does not exceed 12 mph when the device is being operated by a person with a mobility impairment.
(1991 Code, § 70.01) (Ord. passed 7-7-1953)
Statutory reference:
Similar state law definitions, see G.S. § 20-4.01