Section 281A.010 - Definitions for chapterAs used in this chapter:
(1) "Alcohol" means: (a) Beer, ale, port, or stout and other similar fermented beverages, including sake or similar products, of any name or description containing one-half of one percent (0.5%) or more of alcohol by volume, brewed or produced from malt, wholly or in part, or from any substitute therefor;(b) Wine of not less than one-half of one percent (0.5%) of alcohol by volume;(c) Distilled spirits, which means that substance known as ethyl alcohol, ethanol, or spirits of wine in any form, including all dilutions and mixtures thereof from whatever source or by whatever process produced; or(d) Any substance containing ethyl alcohol, hydrated oxide of ethyl, spirit of wine, or any distilled spirits including but not limited to ethanol, methanol, propanol, and isopropanol;(2) "Alcohol concentration" means: (a) The number of grams of alcohol per one hundred (100) milliliters of blood;(b) The number of grams of alcohol per two hundred ten (210) liters of breath; or(c) The number of grams of alcohol per sixty-seven (67) milliliters of urine;(3) "Cabinet" means the Transportation Cabinet;(4) "Commerce" means: (a) Any trade, traffic, or transportation within the jurisdiction of the United States between a place in a state and a place outside of the state, including a place outside of the United States; and(b) Trade, traffic, and transportation in the United States that affects any trade, traffic, and transportation described in paragraph (a) of this subsection;(5) "Commercial driver's license" or "CDL" means a license issued to an individual in accordance with the requirements of this chapter or, if the license is issued by another state in accordance with the Federal Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act, to an individual that authorizes the individual to drive any class of commercial motor vehicle;(6) "Commercial driver's license information system" or "CDLIS" means the national information system established to serve as a clearinghouse for locating information related to the licensing and identification of commercial motor vehicle drivers;(7) "Commercial learner's permit" or "CLP" means a permit issued pursuant to KRS 281A.120;(8) "Commercial motor vehicle" or "CMV" means a motor vehicle or combination motor vehicle used in commerce that is: (a) Designed to carry property and has a gross vehicle weight rating as determined by federal regulation which has been adopted into cabinet administrative regulations pursuant to KRS Chapter 13A;(b) Designed to transport sixteen (16) or more passengers, including the driver;(c) Transporting hazardous materials and is required to be placarded in accordance with 49 C.F.R. pt. 172; or(d) Any other vehicle that is required by cabinet administrative regulation, pursuant to KRS Chapter 13A, to be operated by a licensed commercial driver;(9) "Controlled substance" means any substance so classified under 21 U.S.C. sec. 802(6), and includes all substances listed on Schedules I through V of 21 C.F.R. pt. 1308, as adopted by the Transportation Cabinet by administrative regulation pursuant to KRS Chapter 13A. It shall also include those substances defined or listed in KRS Chapter 218A;(10) "Conviction" means an unvacated adjudication of guilt, or a determination that a person has violated or failed to comply with the law in a court of original jurisdiction or an authorized administrative tribunal, an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the person's appearance in court, a plea of guilty, a plea of nolo contendere, or Alford plea entered and accepted by the court, the payment of a fine or court cost, or violation of a condition of release without bail, regardless of whether or not the penalty is rebated, suspended, or probated;(11) "Disqualification" means any of the following actions: (a) The suspension, revocation, or cancellation of a CDL by the Commonwealth or the jurisdiction of issuance;(b) Any withdrawal of a person's privilege to drive a commercial motor vehicle by the Commonwealth or another jurisdiction as a result of a violation of state or local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control, other than parking, vehicle weight, or vehicle defect violations; or(c) A determination by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that a person is not qualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle under 49 C.F.R. pt. 391;(12) "Drive" means to drive, operate, or be in physical control of a motor vehicle;(13) "Driver" means any person who drives, operates, or is in physical control of a commercial motor vehicle, or who is required to hold a commercial driver's license;(14) "Driver's license" or "operator's license" means a license issued by a state to an individual that authorizes the individual to drive a motor vehicle;(15) "Employee" means any operator of a commercial motor vehicle, including full-time, regularly employed drivers; casual, intermittent, or occasional drivers; leased drivers and independent, owner-operator contractors while in the course of operating a commercial motor vehicle who are either directly employed by, under lease to, or operating in a manner indicating employment to an employer;(16) "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 a person to drive a commercial motor vehicle;(17) "Felony" means any offense under state or federal law that is punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one (1) year;(18) "Gross combination weight rating" or "GCWR" is the gross vehicle weight rating of power unit plus the gross vehicle weight rating of any towed unit. In the absence of a value specified by the manufacturer, GCWR shall be determined by the combined actual physical weight of the vehicle, including passengers, cargo, fuel, all other items, and, if towing, the tongue weight;(19) "Gross vehicle weight rating" or "GVWR" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the maximum loaded weight of a single, a combination or an articulated vehicle;(20) "Hazardous materials" has the same meaning as in 49 C.F.R. sec. 383.5;(21) "Highway" shall include any way or place of any nature when any part of it is open to the use of the public as a matter of right, license, or privilege for the use of vehicular traffic;(22) "Imminent hazard" means a condition that presents a substantial likelihood that death, serious illness, severe personal injury, or a danger to health, property, or the environment exists;(23) "Moped" shall have the same meaning as in KRS 186.010(5);(24) "Motor vehicle" means a vehicle, 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 shall not include any vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer, or semitrailers operated exclusively on a rail;(25) "NDR" means the national driver register;(26) "Out-of-service order" means a declaration by an authorized enforcement officer of a federal, state, Canadian, Mexican, or local jurisdiction that a driver, commercial motor vehicle, or a motor carrier operation is out of service pursuant to 49 C.F.R. secs. 386.72, 392.5, 395.13, or 396.9; comparable laws or regulations; or the North American Uniform Out-of-Service Criteria;(27) "Resident" means a person who has established Kentucky as his or her state of domicile. Proof of residency shall include but not be limited to a deed or property tax bill, utility agreement or utility bill, or rental housing agreement;(28) "School bus" means a vehicle that meets the specification of KRS 156.153 used to transport preprimary, primary, or secondary school students between school and home, or to and from school-sponsored events. A school bus shall not include a bus used as a common carrier;(29) "Serious traffic violation" means a conviction when operating a commercial motor vehicle of: (a) Excessive speeding, involving a single charge of any speed fifteen (15) miles per hour or more, above the specified speed limit;(b) Reckless driving, as defined under state or local law, including conviction of driving a commercial motor vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property;(c) Improper or erratic traffic lane changes;(d) Following the vehicle ahead too closely;(e) A violation of any state or local law related to motor vehicle traffic control, other than a parking violation, arising in connection with a fatal accident;(f) Driving a commercial motor vehicle without a CDL;(g) Driving a commercial motor vehicle without a CDL in one's possession or refusing to display a CDL upon request;(h) Driving a commercial motor vehicle without the proper class of CDL or endorsements, or both, for the specific vehicle type or types being operated or for the passengers or type or types of cargo being transported; or(i) Any conviction of an offense that requires mandatory suspension under KRS 186.560 or a serious violation as defined by 49 C.F.R. pt. 383;(30) "Severe forms of trafficking in persons" has the same meaning as in 22 U.S.C. sec. 7102;(31) "State" means a state of the United States and the District of Columbia;(32) "State police" means the Department of Kentucky State Police; and(33) "Vehicle" means every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn along a public highway, except devices moved by human or animal power, used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks, or which derives its power from overhead wires.Amended by 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 123,§ 1, eff. 7/15/2024.Amended by 2013 Ky. Acts ch. 21,§ 1, eff. 6/24/2013.Effective:6/26/2007
Amended 2007, Ky. Acts ch. 28, sec. 1, effective6/26/2007; and ch. 85, sec. 285, effective6/26/2007. -- Amended 2005, Ky. Acts ch. 165, sec. 5, effective 6/20/2005. -- Amended 2002, Ky. Acts ch. 204, sec. 1, effective 4/5/2002. -- Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 274, sec. 1, effective 4/7/1992. -- Created 1990 Ky. Acts ch. 455, sec. 4, effective 1/1/1991.