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331.33 OBSTRUCTING INTERSECTIONS, CROSSWALKS OR GRADE CROSSINGS.
(a) No driver shall enter an intersection or marked crosswalk, or drive onto any railroad grade crossing, unless there is sufficient space on the other side of the intersection, crosswalk, or grade crossing to accommodate the vehicle the driver is operating without obstructing the passage of other vehicles, pedestrians, or railroad trains, notwithstanding any traffic-control signal indication to proceed.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one predicate motor vehicle or traffic offense, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of two or more predicate motor vehicle or traffic offenses, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third
degree.
(c) If the offender commits the offense while distracted and the distracting activity is a contributing factor to the commission of the offense, the offender is subject to the additional fine established under § 303.99(b).
(R.C. §
4511.712)
(a) No person shall operate a motor vehicle or motorcycle upon any street or highway in a weaving or zigzag course unless such irregular course is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law.
(b) No person shall operate a motor vehicle or motorcycle without giving his or her full time and attention to the operation of such vehicle.
(a) Except as provided in division (b) of this section, no person shall occupy any travel trailer, fifth wheel trailer, or manufactured or mobile home while it is being used as a conveyance upon a street or highway.
(b) (1) Division (a) of this section does not apply to a fifth wheel trailer when both of the following apply:
A. Any child riding in the fifth wheel trailer is properly secured in the manner provided in R.C. § 4511.81.
B. The operator of the vehicle towing the fifth wheel trailer has some means of viable communication with the passengers riding in the trailer.
(2) As used in this division, "viable communication" includes a cellular or satellite telephone, a radio, or any other similar electronic wireless communications device.
(c) (1) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one predicate motor vehicle or traffic offense, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of two or more predicate motor vehicle or traffic offenses, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.
(2) The offense established under this section is a strict liability offense and R.C. § 2901.20 does not apply. The designation of this offense as a strict liability offense shall not be construed to imply that any other offense, for which there is no specified degree of culpability, is not a strict liability offense.
(ORC 4511.701)
No person shall operate any motor vehicle, except when necessary for safe operation, or in compliance with law, in such a manner that the vehicle is so rapidly accelerated or started from a stopped position, or in the shifting of gears while in motion, that the exhaust system emits a loud, cracking or chattering noise unusual to its normal operation, or that the rubber tires of such vehicle squeal or leave tire marks on the roadway, commonly known as “peeling”.
(a) (1) No person shall drive any vehicle, other than a bicycle or an electric bicycle if the motor is not engaged, upon a sidewalk or sidewalk area, except upon a permanent or duly authorized temporary driveway.
(2)
This prohibition does not apply to a law enforcement officer, or other person sworn to enforce the criminal and traffic laws of the state, using an electric bicycle with the motor engaged while in the performance of the officer’s duties.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting local authorities from regulating the operation of bicycles or electric bicycles.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one predicate motor vehicle or traffic offense, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of two or more predicate motor vehicle or traffic offenses, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.
(c) If the offender commits the offense while distracted and the distracting activity is a contributing factor to the commission of the offense, the offender is subject to the additional fine established under § 303.99(b).
(R.C. § 4511.711)
(d) No person shall drive a vehicle on a tree lawn area or the curb of a street, except upon a permanent or duly authorized temporary driveway or when otherwise lawfully authorized.
(a) The driver of a vehicle, upon meeting or overtaking from either direction any school bus stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging any school child, person attending programs offered by community boards of mental health and county boards of developmental disabilities, or child attending a program offered by a head start agency, shall stop at least ten feet from the front or rear of the school bus and shall not proceed until such school bus resumes motion, or until signaled by the school bus driver to proceed. It is no defense to a charge under this division that the school bus involved failed to display or be equipped with an automatically extended stop warning sign as required by division (b) of this section.
(b) Every school bus shall be equipped with amber and red visual signals meeting the requirements of R.C. § 4511.771 or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, and an automatically extended stop warning sign of a type approved by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, which shall be actuated by the driver of the bus whenever but only whenever the bus is stopped or stopping on the roadway for the purpose of receiving or discharging school children, persons attending programs offered by community boards of mental health and county boards of developmental disabilities, or children attending programs offered by head start agencies. A school bus driver shall not actuate the visual signals or the stop warning sign in designated school bus loading areas where the bus is entirely off the roadway or at school buildings when children or persons attending programs offered by community boards of mental health and county boards of developmental disabilities are loading or unloading at curbside or at buildings when children attending programs offered by head start agencies are loading or unloading at curbside. The visual signals and stop warning sign shall be synchronized or otherwise operated as required by the Ohio Administrative Code.
(c) Where a highway has been divided into four or more traffic lanes, a driver of a vehicle need not stop for a school bus approaching from the opposite direction which has stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging any school child, persons attending programs offered by community boards of mental health and county boards of developmental disabilities, or children attending programs offered by head start agencies. The driver of any vehicle overtaking the school bus shall comply with division (a) above.
(d) School buses operating on divided highways or on highways with four or more traffic lanes shall receive and discharge all school children, persons attending programs offered by community boards of mental health and county boards of developmental disabilities, and children attending programs offered by head start agencies on their residence side of the highway.
(e) No school bus driver shall start the driver's bus until after any child, person attending programs offered by community boards of mental health and county boards of developmental disabilities, or child attending a program offered by a head start agency who may have alighted therefrom has reached a place of safety on the child's or person's residence side of the road.
(f) (1) Whoever violates division (a) of this section may be fined an amount not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00). A person who is issued a citation for a violation of division (a) of this section is not permitted to enter a written plea of guilty and waive the person's right to contest the citation in a trial but instead must appear in person in the proper court to answer the charge.
(2) In addition to and independent of any other penalty provided by law, the court or Mayor may impose upon an offender who violates this section a class seven suspension of the offender's driver's license, commercial driver's license, temporary instruction permit, probationary license or nonresident operating privilege from the range specified in Ohio R.C. 4510.02(A)(7). When a license is suspended under this section, the court or Mayor shall cause the offender to deliver the license to the court, and the court or Clerk of the Court immediately shall forward the license to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, together with notice of the court's action.
(g) As used in this section:
(1) “Head start agency” has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 3301.31(A)(1).
(2) “School bus” as used in relation to children who attend a program offered by a head start agency, means a bus that is owned and operated by a head start agency, is equipped with an automatically extended stop warning sign of a type approved by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, is painted the color and displays the markings described in R.C. § 4511.77, and is equipped with amber and red visual signals meeting the requirements of R.C. § 4511.77, irrespective of whether or not the bus has 15 or more children aboard at any time. The term does not include a van owned and operated by a head start agency, irrespective of its color, lights or markings.
(ORC 4511.75)
(a) (1) Whenever any person driving a vehicle approaches a railroad grade crossing, the person shall stop within 50 feet but not less than 15 feet from the nearest rail of the railroad if any of the following circumstances exist at the crossing:
A. A clearly visible electric or mechanical signal device gives warning of the immediate approach of a train.
B. A crossing gate is lowered.
C. A flagperson gives or continues to give a signal of the approach or passage of a train.
D. There is insufficient space on the other side of the railroad grade crossing to accommodate the vehicle the person is operating without obstructing the passage of other vehicles, pedestrians or railroad trains, notwithstanding any traffic control signal indication to proceed.
E. An approaching train is emitting an audible signal or is plainly visible, and is in hazardous proximity to the crossing.
F. There is insufficient undercarriage clearance to safely negotiate the crossing.
(2) A person who is driving a vehicle and who approaches a railroad grade crossing shall not proceed as long as any of the circumstances described in divisions (a)(1)A. through (a)(1)F. of this section exist at the crossing.
(b) No person shall drive any vehicle through, around, or under any crossing gate or barrier at a railroad crossing while the gate or barrier is closed, or is being opened or closed unless the person is signaled by a law enforcement officer or flagperson that it is permissible to do so.
(c) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(ORC 4511.62)
(a) (1) Except as provided in division (a)(2) of this section, the operator of any bus, any school vehicle, or any vehicle transporting material required to be placarded under 49 C.F.R. Parts 100 to 185, before crossing at grade any track of a railroad, shall stop the vehicle, and while so stopped, shall listen through an open door or open window, and look in both directions along the track for any approaching train and for signals indicating the approach of a train, and shall proceed only upon exercising due care after stopping, looking and listening as required by this section. Upon proceeding, the operator of such a vehicle shall cross only in a gear that will ensure there will be no necessity for changing gears while traversing the crossing, and shall not shift gears while crossing the tracks.
(2) Division (a) of this section does not apply at grade crossings when any local authority has filed an application with the Public Utilities Commission requesting the approval of an exempt crossing, and the Public Utilities Commission has authorized and approved an exempt crossing as provided in R.C. § 4511.63(B).
(3) As used in division (a) of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
A. “Bus.” Any vehicle originally designed by its manufacturer to transport 16 or more passengers, including the driver, or carries 16 or more passengers, including the driver.
B. “Exempt crossing.” A highway rail grade crossing authorized and approved by the Public Utilities Commission under R.C. § 4511.63(B) at which vehicles may cross without making the stop otherwise required by this section.
C. “School vehicle.” Any vehicle used for the transportation of pupils to and from a school or school-related function if the vehicle is owned or operated by, or operated under contract with, a public or nonpublic school.
(4) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates division (a) of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one or more violations of division (a) of this section or R.C. § 4511.63, 4511.76, 4511.761, 4511.762, 4511.764, 4511.77 or 4511.79, or a municipal ordinance that is substantially equivalent to any of those sections, whoever violates division (a) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(ORC 4511.63)
(b) (1) As used in this section, “active grade crossing warning device” means signs, signals, gates, or other protective devices erected or installed at a public highway-railway crossing at common grade and activated by an electrical circuit.
(2) The Department of Transportation and local authorities, with the approval of the Department, may designate dangerous highway crossings over railroad tracks and erect stop signs thereat.
(3) A. The Department and local authorities shall erect stop signs at a railroad highway grade crossing in either of the following circumstances:
1. New warning devices that are not active grade crossing warning devices are being installed at the grade crossing, and railroad crossbucks were the only warning devices at the grade crossing prior to the installation of the new warning devices.
2. The grade crossing is constructed after July 1, 2013 and only warning devices that are not active grade crossing warning devices are installed at the grade crossing.
B. Division (b)(3)A. of this section does not apply to a railroad highway grade crossing that the Director of Transportation has exempted from that division because of traffic flow or other considerations or factors.
(4) When stop signs are erected pursuant to division (b)(2) or (b)(3) of this section, the operator of any vehicle shall stop within 50, but not less than 15, feet from the nearest rail of the railroad tracks and shall exercise due care before proceeding across such grade crossing.
(5) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates division (b)(4) of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one predicate motor vehicle or traffic offense, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of two or more predicate motor vehicle or traffic offenses, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.
(6) If the offender commits the offense while distracted and the distracting activity is a contributing factor to the commission of the offense, the offender is subject to the additional fine established under § 303.99(b).
(R.C. § 4511.61)
(a) No person shall operate a vehicle across public or private property marked with signs “No Through Traffic” or words of similar import for the purpose of passing from one roadway to another.
(b) No person shall operate a vehicle across public or private property for the purpose of avoiding compliance with a traffic control device.
(c) It shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this section for the operator of a vehicle to cross public or private property as provided herein without using the service of such property, stopping the engine or both.
(a) (1) No person shall operate a motor vehicle, snowmobile, or all-purpose vehicle upon any path set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles, when an appropriate sign giving notice of such use is posted on the path.
(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect any rule of the Director of Natural Resources governing the operation of motor vehicles, snowmobiles, all-purpose vehicles, and bicycles on lands under the Director's jurisdiction.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one predicate motor vehicle or traffic offense, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of two or more predicate motor vehicle or traffic offenses, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.
(c) If the offender commits the offense while distracted and the distracting activity is a contributing factor to the commission of the offense, the offender is subject to the additional fine established under § 303.99(b).
(R.C. § 4511.713)
(a) No operator or occupant of a motor vehicle shall, regardless of intent, throw, drop, discard, or deposit litter from any motor vehicle in operation upon any street, road, or highway, except into a litter receptacle in a manner that prevents its being carried away or deposited by the elements.
(b) No operator of a motor vehicle in operation upon any street, road, or highway shall allow litter to be thrown, dropped, discarded, or deposited from the motor vehicle, except into a litter receptacle in a manner that prevents its being carried away or deposited by the elements.
(c) As used in this section, “litter” means garbage, trash, waste, rubbish, ashes, cans, bottles, wire, paper, cartons, boxes, automobile parts, furniture, glass, or anything else of an unsightly or unsanitary nature.
(d) Whoever violates division (a) or (b) of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(ORC 4511.82)
(a) As used in this section:
(1) “Earphones.” Any device that covers all or a portion of both ears and that does either of the following:
A. Through either a physical connection to another device or a wireless connection, provides the listener with radio programs, music, or other information;
B. Provides hearing protection.
“Earphones” does not include speakers or other listening devices that are built into protective headgear.
(2) “Earplugs.” Any device that can be inserted into one or both ears and that does either of the following:
A. Through either a physical connection to another device or a wireless connection, provides the listener with radio programs, music, or other information;
B. Provides hearing protection.
(b) No person shall operate a motor vehicle while wearing earphones over, or earplugs in, both ears.
(c) This section does not apply to:
(1) Any person wearing a hearing aid;
(2) Law enforcement personnel while on duty;
(3) Fire Department personnel and emergency medical service personnel while on duty;
(4) Any person engaged in the operation of equipment for use in the maintenance or repair of any highway;
(5) Any person engaged in the operation of refuse collection equipment;
(6) Any person wearing earphones or earplugs for hearing protection while operating a motorcycle.
(d) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to one predicate motor vehicle or traffic offense, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If, within one year of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of two or more predicate motor vehicle or traffic offenses, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.
(R.C. § 4511.84)
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