CHAPTER 4513: TRAFFIC LAWS -- EQUIPMENT; LOADS

As provided in section 4511.01 of the Revised Code, the definitions set forth in that section apply to this chapter.

Effective Date: 04-03-2003

(A) No person shall drive or move, or cause or knowingly permit to be driven or moved, on any highway any vehicle or combination of vehicles which is in such unsafe condition as to endanger any person.

(B) When directed by any state highway patrol trooper, the operator of any motor vehicle shall stop and submit such motor vehicle to an inspection under division (B)(1) or (2) of this section, as appropriate, and such tests as are necessary.

(1) Any motor vehicle not subject to inspection by the public utilities commission shall be inspected and tested to determine whether it is unsafe or not equipped as required by law, or that its equipment is not in proper adjustment or repair, or in violation of the equipment provisions of Chapter 4513. of the Revised Code.

Such inspection shall be made with respect to the brakes, lights, turn signals, steering, horns and warning devices, glass, mirrors, exhaust system, windshield wipers, tires, and such other items of equipment as designated by the superintendent of the state highway patrol by rule or regulation adopted pursuant to sections 119.01 to 119.13 of the Revised Code.

Upon determining that a motor vehicle is in safe operating condition and its equipment in conformity with Chapter 4513. of the Revised Code, the inspecting officer shall issue to the operator an official inspection sticker, which shall be in such form as the superintendent prescribes except that its color shall vary from year to year.

(2) Any motor vehicle subject to inspection by the public utilities commission shall be inspected and tested in accordance with rules adopted by the commission. Upon determining that the vehicle and operator are in compliance with rules adopted by the commission, the inspecting officer shall issue to the operator an appropriate official inspection sticker.

(C) The superintendent of the state highway patrol, pursuant to sections 119.01 to 119.13 of the Revised Code, shall determine and promulgate standards for any inspection program conducted by a political subdivision of this state. These standards shall exempt licensed collector’s vehicles and historical motor vehicles from inspection. Any motor vehicle bearing a valid certificate of inspection issued by another state or a political subdivision of this state whose inspection program conforms to the superintendent’s standards, and any licensed collector’s vehicle or historical motor vehicle which is not in a condition which endangers the safety of persons or property, shall be exempt from the tests provided in division (B) of this section.

(D) Every person, firm, association, or corporation that, in the conduct of its business, owns and operates not less than fifteen motor vehicles in this state that are not subject to regulation by the public utilities commission and that, for the purpose of storing, repairing, maintaining, and servicing such motor vehicles, equips and operates one or more service departments within this state, may file with the superintendent of the state highway patrol applications for permits for such service departments as official inspection stations for its own motor vehicles. Upon receiving an application for each such service department, and after determining that it is properly equipped and has competent personnel to perform the inspections referred to in this section, the superintendent shall issue the necessary inspection stickers and permit to operate as an official inspection station. Any such person who has had one or more service departments so designated as official inspection stations may have motor vehicles that are owned and operated by the person and that are not subject to regulation by the public utilities commission, excepting private passenger cars owned by the person or the person’s employees, inspected at such service department; and any motor vehicle bearing a valid certificate of inspection issued by such service department shall be exempt from the tests provided in division (B) of this section.

No permit for an official inspection station shall be assigned or transferred or used at any location other than therein designated, and every such permit shall be posted in a conspicuous place at the location designated.

If a person, firm, association, or corporation owns and operates fifteen or more motor vehicles in the conduct of business and is subject to regulation by the public utilities commission, that person, firm, association, or corporation is not eligible to apply to the superintendent for permits to enable any of its service departments to serve as official inspection stations for its own motor vehicles.

(E) When any motor vehicle is found to be unsafe for operation, the inspecting officer may order it removed from the highway and not operated, except for purposes of removal and repair, until it has been repaired pursuant to a repair order as provided in division (F) of this section.

(F) When any motor vehicle is found to be defective or in violation of Chapter 4513. of the Revised Code, the inspecting officer may issue a repair order, in such form and containing such information as the superintendent shall prescribe, to the owner or operator of the motor vehicle. The owner or operator shall thereupon obtain such repairs as are required and shall, as directed by the inspecting officer, return the repair order together with proof of compliance with its provisions. When any motor vehicle or operator subject to rules of the public utilities commission fails the inspection, the inspecting officer shall issue an appropriate order to obtain compliance with such rules.

(G) Sections 4513.01 to 4513.37 of the Revised Code, with respect to equipment on vehicles, do not apply to implements of husbandry, road machinery, road rollers, or agricultural tractors except as made applicable to such articles of machinery.

(H) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If the offender previously has been convicted of a violation of this section, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Passenger car” means any motor vehicle with motive power, designed for carrying ten persons or less, except a multipurpose passenger vehicle or motorcycle.

(2) “Multipurpose passenger vehicle” means a motor vehicle with motive power, except a motorcycle, designed to carry ten persons or less, that is constructed either on a truck chassis or with special features for occasional off-road operation.

(3) “Truck” means every motor vehicle, except trailers and semitrailers, designed and used to carry property and having a gross vehicle weight rating of ten thousand pounds or less.

(4) “Manufacturer” has the same meaning as in section 4501.01 of the Revised Code.

(5) “Gross vehicle weight rating” means the manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating established for that vehicle.

(B) The director of public safety, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt rules in conformance with standards of the vehicle equipment safety commission, that shall govern the maximum bumper height or, in the absence of bumpers and in cases where bumper heights have been lowered or modified, the maximum height to the bottom of the frame rail, of any passenger car, multipurpose passenger vehicle, or truck.

(C) No person shall operate upon a street or highway any passenger car, multipurpose passenger vehicle, or truck registered in this state that does not conform to the requirements of this section or to any applicable rule adopted pursuant to this section.

(D) No person shall modify any motor vehicle registered in this state in such a manner as to cause the vehicle body or chassis to come in contact with the ground, expose the fuel tank to damage from collision, or cause the wheels to come in contact with the body under normal operation, and no person shall disconnect any part of the original suspension system of the vehicle to defeat the safe operation of that system.

(E) Nothing contained in this section or in the rules adopted pursuant to this section shall be construed to prohibit either of the following:

(1) The installation upon a passenger car, multipurpose passenger vehicle, or truck registered in this state of heavy duty equipment, including shock absorbers and overload springs;

(2) The operation on a street or highway of a passenger car, multipurpose passenger vehicle, or truck registered in this state with normal wear to the suspension system if the normal wear does not adversely affect the control of the vehicle.

(F) This section and the rules adopted pursuant to it do not apply to any specially designed or modified passenger car, multipurpose passenger vehicle, or truck when operated off a street or highway in races and similar events.

(G) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If the offender previously has been convicted of a violation of this section, whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) As part of the motor vehicle inspection conducted pursuant to section 4513.02 of the Revised Code, the state highway patrol trooper shall request that the owner or operator of the motor vehicle produce proof that the owner maintains or has maintained on the owner’s behalf, proof of financial responsibility as required by section 4509.101 of the Revised Code.

(B) A state highway patrol trooper shall indicate on every traffic ticket issued pursuant to a motor vehicle inspection whether the person receiving the traffic ticket produced proof of the maintenance of financial responsibility in response to the state highway patrol trooper’s request. The state highway patrol trooper shall inform every person who receives a traffic ticket and who has failed to produce proof of the maintenance of financial responsibility at the time of the motor vehicle inspection that the person must submit proof to the traffic violations bureau with any payment of a fine and costs for the ticketed violation or, if the person is to appear in court for the violation, the person must submit proof to the court.

(C)(1) If a person who has failed to produce proof of the maintenance of financial responsibility appears in court for a ticketed violation, the court may permit the defendant to present evidence of proof of financial responsibility to the court at such time and in such manner as the court determines to be necessary or appropriate. The clerk of courts shall provide the registrar with the identity of any person who fails to submit proof of the maintenance of financial responsibility pursuant to division (B) of this section.

(2) If a person who has failed to present proof of the maintenance of financial responsibility also fails to submit that proof to the traffic violations bureau, the traffic violations bureau shall notify the registrar of the identity of that person.

(3) Upon receiving notice from a clerk of courts or a traffic violation bureau pursuant to division (C) of this section, the registrar shall proceed against these persons under division (D) of section 4509.101 of the Revised Code in the same manner as the registrar proceeds against persons identified by the clerk of courts under division (D)(4) of section 4509.101 of the Revised Code.

(D) A state highway patrol trooper may charge an owner or operator of a motor vehicle with a violation of section 4510.16 of the Revised Code when the operator fails to produce proof of the maintenance of financial responsibility upon the state highway patrol trooper’s request under division (A) of this section, if a check of the owner or operator’s driving record indicates that the owner or operator, at the time of the motor vehicle inspection, is required to file and maintain proof of financial responsibility under section 4509.45 of the Revised Code for a previous violation of Chapter 4509. of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Every vehicle upon a street or highway within this state during the time from sunset to sunrise, and at any other time when there are unfavorable atmospheric conditions or when there is not sufficient natural light to render discernible persons, vehicles, and substantial objects on the highway at a distance of one thousand feet ahead, shall display lighted lights and illuminating devices as required by sections 4513.04 to 4513.37 of the Revised Code, for different classes of vehicles; except that every motorized bicycle shall display at such times lighted lights meeting the rules adopted by the director of public safety under section 4511.521 of the Revised Code. No motor vehicle, during such times, shall be operated upon a street or highway within this state using only parking lights as illumination.

Whenever in such sections a requirement is declared as to the distance from which certain lamps and devices shall render objects visible, or within which such lamps or devices shall be visible, such distance shall be measured upon a straight level unlighted highway under normal atmospheric conditions unless a different condition is expressly stated.

Whenever in such sections a requirement is declared as to the mounted height of lights or devices, it shall mean from the center of such light or device to the level ground upon which the vehicle stands.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Every motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, and every trackless trolley shall be equipped with at least two headlights with at least one near each side of the front of the motor vehicle or trackless trolley.

Every motorcycle shall be equipped with at least one and not more than two headlights.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Every motor vehicle, trackless trolley, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or vehicle which is being drawn at the end of a train of vehicles shall be equipped with at least one tail light mounted on the rear which, when lighted, shall emit a red light visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear, provided that in the case of a train of vehicles only the tail light on the rearmost vehicle need be visible from the distance specified.

Either a tail light or a separate light shall be so constructed and placed as to illuminate with a white light the rear registration plate, when such registration plate is required, and render it legible from a distance of fifty feet to the rear. Any tail light, together with any separate light for illuminating the rear registration plate, shall be so wired as to be lighted whenever the headlights or auxiliary driving lights are lighted, except where separate lighting systems are provided for trailers for the purpose of illuminating such registration plate.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Every new motor vehicle sold after September 6, 1941, and operated on a highway, other than a commercial tractor, to which a trailer or semitrailer is attached shall carry at the rear, either as a part of the tail lamps or separately, two red reflectors meeting the requirements of this section, except that vehicles of the type mentioned in section 4513.07 of the Revised Code shall be equipped with reflectors as required by the regulations provided for in said section.

Every such reflector shall be of such size and characteristics and so maintained as to be visible at night from all distances within three hundred feet to fifty feet from such vehicle.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) The director of public safety shall prescribe and promulgate regulations relating to clearance lights, marker lights, reflectors, and stop lights on buses, trackless trolleys, trucks, commercial tractors, trailers, semitrailers, and pole trailers, when operated upon any highway, and such vehicles shall be equipped as required by such regulations, and such equipment shall be lighted at all times mentioned in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code, except that clearance lights and side marker lights need not be lighted on any such vehicle when it is operated within a municipal corporation where there is sufficient light to reveal any person or substantial object on the highway at a distance of five hundred feet.

Such equipment shall be in addition to all other lights specifically required by sections 4513.03 to 4513.16 of the Revised Code.

Vehicles operated under the jurisdiction of the public utilities commission are not subject to this section.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, and pole trailer when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with two or more stop lights, except that passenger cars manufactured or assembled prior to January 1, 1967, motorcycles, and motor-driven cycles shall be equipped with at least one stop light. Stop lights shall be mounted on the rear of the vehicle, actuated upon application of the service brake, and may be incorporated with other rear lights. Such stop lights when actuated shall emit a red light visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear, provided that in the case of a train of vehicles only the stop lights on the rear-most vehicle need be visible from the distance specified.

Such stop lights when actuated shall give a steady warning light to the rear of a vehicle or train of vehicles to indicate the intention of the operator to diminish the speed of or stop a vehicle or train of vehicles.

When stop lights are used as required by this section, they shall be constructed or installed so as to provide adequate and reliable illumination and shall conform to the appropriate rules and regulations established under section 4513.19 of the Revised Code.

Historical motor vehicles as defined in section 4503.181 of the Revised Code, not originally manufactured with stop lights, are not subject to this section.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

Whenever motor and other vehicles are operated in combination during the time that lights are required, any light, except tail lights, which by reason of its location on a vehicle of the combination would be obscured by another vehicle of the combination need not be lighted, but this section does not affect the requirement that lighted clearance lights be displayed on the front of the foremost vehicle required to have clearance lights or that all lights required on the rear of the rearmost vehicle of any combination shall be lighted.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

(A) Whenever the load upon any vehicle extends to the rear four feet or more beyond the bed or body of such vehicle, there shall be displayed at the extreme rear end of the load, at the times specified in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code, a red light or lantern plainly visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet to the sides and rear. The red light or lantern required by this section is in addition to the red rear light required upon every vehicle. At any other time there shall be displayed at the extreme rear end of such load a red flag or cloth not less than sixteen inches square.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Except in case of an emergency, whenever a vehicle is parked or stopped upon a roadway open to traffic or a shoulder adjacent thereto, whether attended or unattended, during the times mentioned in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code, such vehicle shall be equipped with one or more lights which shall exhibit a white or amber light on the roadway side visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the front of such vehicle, and a red light visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear. No lights need be displayed upon any such vehicle when it is stopped or parked within a municipal corporation where there is sufficient light to reveal any person or substantial object within a distance of five hundred feet upon such highway. Any lighted headlights upon a parked vehicle shall be depressed or dimmed.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) All vehicles other than bicycles, including animal-drawn vehicles and vehicles referred to in division (G) of section 4513.02 of the Revised Code, not specifically required to be equipped with lamps or other lighting devices by sections 4513.03 to 4513.10 of the Revised Code, shall, at the times specified in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code, be equipped with at least one lamp displaying a white light visible from a distance of not less than one thousand feet to the front of the vehicle, and also shall be equipped with two lamps displaying red light visible from a distance of not less than one thousand feet to the rear of the vehicle, or as an alternative, one lamp displaying a red light visible from a distance of not less than one thousand feet to the rear and two red reflectors visible from all distances of six hundred feet to one hundred feet to the rear when illuminated by the lawful lower beams of headlamps.

Lamps and reflectors required or authorized by this section shall meet standards adopted by the director of public safety.

(B) All boat trailers, farm machinery, and other machinery, including all road construction machinery, upon a street or highway, except when being used in actual construction and maintenance work in an area guarded by a flagperson, or where flares are used, or when operating or traveling within the limits of a construction area designated by the director of transportation, a city engineer, or the county engineer of the several counties, when such construction area is marked in accordance with requirements of the director and the manual of uniform traffic control devices, as set forth in section 4511.09 of the Revised Code, which is designed for operation at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour or less shall be operated at a speed not exceeding twenty-five miles per hour, and shall display a triangular slow-moving vehicle emblem (SMV). The emblem shall be mounted so as to be visible from a distance of not less than five hundred feet to the rear. The director of public safety shall adopt standards and specifications for the design and position of mounting the SMV emblem. The standards and specifications for SMV emblems referred to in this section shall correlate with and, so far as possible, conform with those approved by the American society of agricultural engineers.

A unit of farm machinery that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour may be operated on a street or highway at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour provided it is operated in accordance with this section.

As used in this division, “machinery” does not include any vehicle designed to be drawn by an animal.

(C) The use of the SMV emblem shall be restricted to animal-drawn vehicles, and to the slow-moving vehicles specified in division (B) of this section operating or traveling within the limits of the highway. Its use on slow-moving vehicles being transported upon other types of vehicles or on any other type of vehicle or stationary object on the highway is prohibited.

(D)(1) No person shall sell, lease, rent, or operate any boat trailer, farm machinery, or other machinery defined as a slow-moving vehicle in division (B) of this section, except those units designed to be completely mounted on a primary power unit, which is manufactured or assembled on or after April 1, 1966, unless the vehicle is equipped with a slow-moving vehicle emblem mounting device as specified in division (B) of this section.

(2) No person shall sell, lease, rent, or operate on a street or highway any unit of farm machinery that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour unless the unit displays a slow-moving vehicle emblem as specified in division (B) of this section and a speed identification symbol that meets the specifications contained in the American society of agricultural engineers standard ANSI/ASAE S584 JAN2005, agricultural equipment: speed identification symbol (SIS).

(E) Any boat trailer, farm machinery, or other machinery defined as a slow-moving vehicle in division (B) of this section, in addition to the use of the slow-moving vehicle emblem, and any unit of farm machinery that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour, in addition to the display of a speed identification symbol, may be equipped with a red flashing light that shall be visible from a distance of not less than one thousand feet to the rear at all times specified in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code. When a double-faced light is used, it shall display amber light to the front and red light to the rear.

In addition to the lights described in this division, farm machinery and motor vehicles escorting farm machinery may display a flashing, oscillating, or rotating amber light, as permitted by section 4513.17 of the Revised Code, and also may display simultaneously flashing turn signals or warning lights, as permitted by that section.

(F) Every animal-drawn vehicle upon a street or highway shall at all times be equipped in one of the following ways:

(1) With a slow-moving vehicle emblem complying with division (B) of this section;

(2) With alternate reflective material complying with rules adopted under this division;

(3) With both a slow-moving vehicle emblem and alternate reflective material as specified in this division.

The director of public safety, subject to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt rules establishing standards and specifications for the position of mounting of the alternate reflective material authorized by this division. The rules shall permit, as a minimum, the alternate reflective material to be black, gray, or silver in color. The alternate reflective material shall be mounted on the animal-drawn vehicle so as to be visible, at all times specified in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code, from a distance of not less than five hundred feet to the rear when illuminated by the lawful lower beams of headlamps.

(G) Every unit of farm machinery that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour shall display a slow-moving vehicle emblem and a speed identification symbol that meets the specifications contained in the American society of agricultural engineers standard ANSI/ASAE S584 JAN2005, agricultural equipment: speed identification symbol (SIS) when the unit is operated upon a street or highway, irrespective of the speed at which the unit is operated on the street or highway. The speed identification symbol shall indicate the maximum speed in miles per hour at which the unit of farm machinery is designed by its manufacturer to operate. The display of the speed identification symbol shall be in accordance with the standard prescribed in this division.

If an agricultural tractor that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour is being operated on a street or highway at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour and is towing, pulling, or otherwise drawing a unit of farm machinery, the unit of farm machinery shall display a slow-moving vehicle emblem and a speed identification symbol that is the same as the speed identification symbol that is displayed on the agricultural tractor.

(H) When an agricultural tractor that is designed by its manufacturer to operate at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour is being operated on a street or highway at a speed greater than twenty-five miles per hour, the operator shall possess some documentation published or provided by the manufacturer indicating the maximum speed in miles per hour at which the manufacturer designed the agricultural tractor to operate.

(I) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

(J) As used in this section, “boat trailer” means any vehicle 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.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004; 2007 HB9 10-18-2007

(A)(1) Every multi-wheel agricultural tractor whose model year was 2001 or earlier, when being operated or traveling on a street or highway at the times specified in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code, at a minimum shall be equipped with and display reflectors and illuminated amber lamps so that the extreme left and right projections of the tractor are indicated by flashing lamps displaying amber light, visible to the front and the rear, by amber reflectors, all visible to the front, and by red reflectors, all visible to the rear.

(2) The lamps displaying amber light need not flash simultaneously and need not flash in conjunction with any directional signals of the tractor.

(3) The lamps and reflectors required by division (A)(1) of this section and their placement shall meet standards and specifications contained in rules adopted by the director of public safety in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. The rules governing the amber lamps, amber reflectors, and red reflectors and their placement shall correlate with and, as far as possible, conform with paragraphs 4.1.4.1, 4.1.7.1, and 4.1.7.2 respectively of the American society of agricultural engineers standard ANSI/ASAE S279.10 OCT98, lighting and marking of agricultural equipment on highways.

(B) Every unit of farm machinery whose model year was 2002 or later, when being operated or traveling on a street or highway at the times specified in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code, shall be equipped with and display markings and illuminated lamps that meet or exceed the lighting, illumination, and marking standards and specifications that are applicable to that type of farm machinery for the unit’s model year specified in the American society of agricultural engineers standard ANSI/ASAE S279.10 OCT98, lighting and marking of agricultural equipment on highways.

(C) The lights and reflectors required by division (A) of this section are in addition to the slow-moving vehicle emblem and lights required or permitted by section 4513.11 or 4513.17 of the Revised Code to be displayed on farm machinery being operated or traveling on a street or highway.

(D) No person shall operate any unit of farm machinery on a street or highway or cause any unit of farm machinery to travel on a street or highway in violation of division (A) or (B) of this section.

(E) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than one spotlight and every lighted spotlight shall be so aimed and used upon approaching another vehicle that no part of the high-intensity portion of the beam will be directed to the left of the prolongation of the extreme left side of the vehicle, nor more than one hundred feet ahead of the vehicle.

Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than three auxiliary driving lights mounted on the front of the vehicle. The director of public safety shall prescribe specifications for auxiliary driving lights and regulations for their use, and any such lights which do not conform to said specifications and regulations shall not be used.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Any motor vehicle may be equipped with side cowl or fender lights which shall emit a white or amber light without glare.

Any motor vehicle may be equipped with lights on each side thereof which shall emit a white or amber light without glare.

Any motor vehicle may equipped with back-up lights, either separately or in combination with another light. No back-up lights shall be continuously lighted when the motor vehicle is in forward motion.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) At all times mentioned in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code at least two lighted lights shall be displayed, one near each side of the front of every motor vehicle and trackless trolley, except when such vehicle or trackless trolley is parked subject to the regulations governing lights on parked vehicles and trackless trolleys.

The director of public safety shall prescribe and promulgate regulations relating to the design and use of such lights and such regulations shall be in accordance with currently recognized standards.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Whenever a motor vehicle is being operated on a roadway or shoulder adjacent thereto during the times specified in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code, the driver shall use a distribution of light, or composite beam, directed high enough and of sufficient intensity to reveal persons, vehicles, and substantial objects at a safe distance in advance of the vehicle, subject to the following requirements;

(1) Whenever the driver of a vehicle approaches an oncoming vehicle, such driver shall use a distribution of light, or composite beam, so aimed that the glaring rays are not projected into the eyes of the oncoming driver.

(2) Every new motor vehicle registered in this state, which has multiple-beam road lighting equipment shall be equipped with a beam indicator, which shall be lighted whenever the uppermost distribution of light from the headlights is in use, and shall not otherwise be lighted. Said indicator shall be so designed and located that, when lighted, it will be readily visible without glare to the driver of the vehicle.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Any motor vehicle may be operated under the conditions specified in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code when it is equipped with two lighted lights upon the front thereof capable of revealing persons and substantial objects seventy-five feet ahead, in lieu of lights required in section 4513.14 of the Revised Code, provided that such vehicle shall not be operated at a speed in excess of twenty miles per hour.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Whenever a motor vehicle equipped with headlights also is equipped with any auxiliary lights or spotlight or any other light on the front thereof projecting a beam of an intensity greater than three hundred candle power, not more than a total of five of any such lights on the front of a vehicle shall be lighted at any one time when the vehicle is upon a highway.

(B) Any lighted light or illuminating device upon a motor vehicle, other than headlights, spotlights, signal lights, or auxiliary driving lights, that projects a beam of light of an intensity greater than three hundred candle power, shall be so directed that no part of the beam will strike the level of the roadway on which the vehicle stands at a distance of more than seventy-five feet from the vehicle.

(C)(1) Flashing lights are prohibited on motor vehicles, except as a means for indicating a right or a left turn, or in the presence of a vehicular traffic hazard requiring unusual care in approaching, or overtaking or passing. This prohibition does not apply to emergency vehicles, road service vehicles servicing or towing a disabled vehicle, traffic line stripers, snow plows, rural mail delivery vehicles, vehicles as provided in section 4513.182 of the Revised Code, department of transportation maintenance vehicles, funeral hearses, funeral escort vehicles, and similar equipment operated by the department or local authorities, which shall be equipped with and display, when used on a street or highway for the special purpose necessitating such lights, a flashing, oscillating, or rotating amber light, but shall not display a flashing, oscillating, or rotating light of any other color, nor to vehicles or machinery permitted by section 4513.11 of the Revised Code to have a flashing red light.

(2) When used on a street or highway, farm machinery and vehicles escorting farm machinery may be equipped with and display a flashing, oscillating, or rotating amber light, and the prohibition contained in division (C)(1) of this section does not apply to such machinery or vehicles. Farm machinery also may display the lights described in section 4513.11 of the Revised Code.

(D) Except a person operating a public safety vehicle, as defined in division (E) of section 4511.01 of the Revised Code, or a school bus, no person shall operate, move, or park upon, or permit to stand within the right-of-way of any public street or highway any vehicle or equipment that is equipped with and displaying a flashing red or a flashing combination red and white light, or an oscillating or rotating red light, or a combination red and white oscillating or rotating light; and except a public law enforcement officer, or other person sworn to enforce the criminal and traffic laws of the state, operating a public safety vehicle when on duty, no person shall operate, move, or park upon, or permit to stand within the right-of-way of any street or highway any vehicle or equipment that is equipped with, or upon which is mounted, and displaying a flashing blue or a flashing combination blue and white light, or an oscillating or rotating blue light, or a combination blue and white oscillating or rotating light.

(E) This section does not prohibit the use of warning lights required by law or the simultaneous flashing of turn signals on disabled vehicles or on vehicles being operated in unfavorable atmospheric conditions in order to enhance their visibility. This section also does not prohibit the simultaneous flashing of turn signals or warning lights either on farm machinery or vehicles escorting farm machinery, when used on a street or highway.

(F) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a motor vehicle operated by a coroner, deputy coroner, or coroner’s investigator may be equipped with a flashing, oscillating, or rotating red or blue light and a siren, whistle, or bell capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than five hundred feet. Such a vehicle may display the flashing, oscillating, or rotating red or blue light and may give the audible signal of the siren, exhaust whistle, or bell only when responding to a fatality or a fatal motor vehicle accident on a street or highway and only at those locations where the stoppage of traffic impedes the ability of the coroner, deputy coroner, or coroner’s investigator to arrive at the site of the fatality.

This section does not relieve a coroner, deputy coroner, or coroner’s investigator operating a motor vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons and property upon the highway.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) The director of transportation shall adopt standards and specifications applicable to headlights, clearance lights, identification, and other lights, on snow removal equipment when operated on the highways, and on vehicles operating under special permits pursuant to section 4513.34 of the Revised Code, in lieu of the lights otherwise required on motor vehicles. Such standards and specifications may permit the use of flashing lights for purposes of identification on snow removal equipment, and oversize vehicles when in service upon the highways. The standards and specifications for lights referred to in this section shall correlate with and, so far as possible, conform with those approved by the American association of state highway officials.

It is unlawful to operate snow removal equipment on a highway unless the lights thereon comply with and are lighted when and as required by the standards and specifications adopted as provided in this section.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

The director of public safety subject to the provisions of sections 119.01 to 119.13 of the Revised Code shall adopt standards and specifications applicable to rural mail delivery vehicles, state highway survey vehicles, and funeral escort vehicles. Such standards and specifications shall permit rural mail delivery vehicles, state highway survey vehicles, and funeral escort vehicles the use of flashing lights.

Effective Date: 11-12-1992

(A) No person shall operate any motor vehicle owned, leased, or hired by a nursery school, kindergarten, or day-care center, while transporting preschool children to or from such an institution unless the motor vehicle is equipped with and displaying two amber flashing lights mounted on a bar attached to the top of the vehicle, and a sign bearing the designation “caution — children,” which shall be attached to the bar carrying the amber flashing lights in such a manner as to be legible to persons both in front of and behind the vehicle. The lights and sign shall meet standards and specifications adopted by the director of public safety. The director, subject to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt standards and specifications for the lights and sign, which shall include, but are not limited to, requirements for the color and size of lettering to be used on the sign, the type of material to be used for the sign, and the method of mounting the lights and sign so that they can be removed from a motor vehicle being used for purposes other than those specified in this section.

(B) No person shall operate a motor vehicle displaying the lights and sign required by this section for any purpose other than the transportation of preschool children as provided in this section.

(C) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) No person shall use any lights mentioned in sections 4513.03 to 4513.18 of the Revised Code upon any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer unless said lights are equipped, mounted, and adjusted as to focus and aim in accordance with regulations which are prescribed by the director of public safety.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) The following requirements govern as to brake equipment on vehicles:

(1) Every trackless trolley and 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 such trackless trolley or motor vehicle, including two separate means of applying the brakes, each of which means shall be effective to apply the brakes to at least two wheels. If these two separate means of applying the brakes are connected in any way, then on such trackless trolleys or motor vehicles manufactured or assembled after January 1, 1942, they shall be so constructed that failure of any one part of the operating mechanism shall not leave the trackless trolley or motor vehicle without brakes on at least two wheels.

(2) Every motorcycle, when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with at least one adequate brake, which may be operated by hand or by foot.

(3) Every motorized bicycle shall be equipped with brakes meeting the rules adopted by the director of public safety under section 4511.521 of the Revised Code.

(4) When operated upon the highways of this state, the following vehicles shall be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of and to stop and to hold the vehicle, designed to be applied by the driver of the towing motor vehicle from its cab, and also designed and connected so that, in case of a breakaway of the towed vehicle, the brakes shall be automatically applied:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, every trailer or semitrailer, except a pole trailer, with an empty weight of two thousand pounds or more, manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 1942;

(b) Every manufactured home or travel trailer with an empty weight of two thousand pounds or more, manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 2001.

(5) Every watercraft trailer with a gross weight or manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating of three thousand pounds or more that is manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 2008, shall have separate brakes equipped with hydraulic surge or electrically operated brakes on two wheels.

(6) In any combination of motor-drawn trailers or semitrailers equipped with brakes, means shall be provided for applying the rearmost brakes in approximate synchronism with the brakes on the towing vehicle, and developing the required braking effort on the rearmost wheels at the fastest rate; or means shall be provided for applying braking effort first on the rearmost brakes; or both of the above means, capable of being used alternatively, may be employed.

(7) Every vehicle and combination of vehicles, except motorcycles and motorized bicycles, and except trailers and semitrailers of a gross weight of less than two thousand pounds, and pole trailers, shall be equipped with parking brakes adequate to hold the vehicle on any grade on which it is operated, under all conditions of loading, on a surface free from snow, ice, or loose material. The parking brakes shall be capable of being applied in conformance with the foregoing requirements by the driver’s muscular effort or by spring action or by equivalent means. Their operation may be assisted by the service brakes or other source of power provided that failure of the service brake actuation system or other power assisting mechanism will not prevent the parking brakes from being applied in conformance with the foregoing requirements. The parking brakes shall be so designed that when once applied they shall remain applied with the required effectiveness despite exhaustion of any source of energy or leakage of any kind.

(8) The same brake drums, brake shoes and lining assemblies, brake shoe anchors, and mechanical brake shoe actuation mechanism normally associated with the wheel brake assemblies may be used for both the service brakes and the parking brakes. If the means of applying the parking brakes and the service brakes are connected in any way, they shall be so constructed that failure of any one part shall not leave the vehicle without operative brakes.

(9) Every trackless trolley, motor vehicle, or combination of motor-drawn vehicles shall be capable at all times and under all conditions of loading of being stopped on a dry, smooth, level road free from loose material, upon application of the service or foot brake, within the following specified distances, or shall be capable of being decelerated at a sustained rate corresponding to these distances:

(a) Trackless trolleys, vehicles, or combinations of vehicles having brakes on all wheels shall come to a stop in thirty feet or less from a speed of twenty miles per hour.

(b) Vehicles or combinations of vehicles not having brakes on all wheels shall come to a stop in forty feet or less from a speed of twenty miles per hour.

(10) All brakes shall be maintained in good working order and shall be so adjusted as to operate as equally as practicable with respect to the wheels on opposite sides of the trackless trolley or vehicle.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004; 2007 HB67 07-03-2007

(A) No hydraulic brake fluid for use in motor vehicles shall be sold in this state if the brake fluid is below the minimum standard of specifications for heavy duty type brake fluid established by the society of automotive engineers and the standard of specifications established by 49 C.F.R. 571.116, as amended.

(B) All manufacturers, packers, or distributors of brake fluid selling such fluid in this state shall state on the containers that the brake fluid therein meets or exceeds the applicable minimum SAE standard of specifications and the standard of specifications established in 49 C.F.R. 571.116, as amended.

(C) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) No brake lining, brake lining material, or brake lining assemblies for use as repair and replacement parts in motor vehicles shall be sold in this state if these items do not meet or exceed the minimum standard of specifications established by the society of automotive engineers and the standard of specifications established in 49 C.F.R. 571.105, as amended, and 49 C.F.R. 571.135, as amended.

(B) All manufacturers or distributors of brake lining, brake lining material, or brake lining assemblies selling these items for use as repair and replacement parts in motor vehicles shall state that the items meet or exceed the applicable minimum standard of specifications.

(C) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

(D) As used in this section, “minimum standard of specifications” means a minimum standard for brake system or brake component performance that meets the need for motor vehicle safety and complies with the applicable SAE standards and recommended practices, and the federal motor vehicle safety standards that cover the same aspect of performance for any brake lining, brake lining material, or brake lining assemblies.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Every motor vehicle or trackless trolley when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with a horn which is in good working order and capable of emitting sound audible, under normal conditions, from a distance of not less than two hundred feet.

No motor vehicle or trackless trolley shall be equipped with, nor shall any person use upon a vehicle, any siren, whistle, or bell. Any vehicle may be equipped with a theft alarm signal device which shall be so arranged that it cannot be used as an ordinary warning signal. Every emergency vehicle shall be equipped with a siren, whistle, or bell, capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than five hundred feet and of a type approved by the director of public safety. Such equipment shall not be used except when such vehicle is operated in response to an emergency call or is in the immediate pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law, in which case the driver of the emergency vehicle shall sound such equipment when it is necessary to warn pedestrians and other drivers of the approach thereof.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Every motor vehicle and motorcycle with an internal combustion engine shall at all times be equipped with a muffler which is in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise, and no person shall use a muffler cutout, by-pass, or similar device upon a motor vehicle on a highway. Every motorcycle muffler shall be equipped with baffle plates.

No person shall own, operate, or have in the person’s possession any motor vehicle or motorcycle equipped with a device for producing excessive smoke or gas, or so equipped as to permit oil or any other chemical to flow into or upon the exhaust pipe or muffler of such vehicle, or equipped in any other way to produce or emit smoke or dangerous or annoying gases from any portion of such vehicle, other than the ordinary gases emitted by the exhaust of an internal combustion engine under normal operation.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) The board of county commissioners of any county, and the board of township trustees of any township subject to section 505.17 of the Revised Code, may regulate passenger car and motorcycle noise on streets and highways under their jurisdiction. Such regulations shall include maximum permissible noise limits measured in decibels, subject to the requirements of this section.

(B) Regulations establishing maximum permissible noise limits measured in decibels shall prohibit the operation, within the speed limits specified herein, of a passenger car or motorcycle of a type subject to registration at any time or under any condition of load, acceleration, or deceleration in such manner as to exceed the following maximum noise limits, based on a distance of not less than fifty feet from the center of the line of travel:

(1) For passenger cars:

(a) When operated at a speed of thirty-five miles per hour or less, a maximum noise limit of seventy decibels;

(b) When operated at a speed of more than thirty-five miles per hour, a maximum noise limit of seventy-nine decibels.

(2) For motorcycles:

(a) When operated at a speed of thirty-five miles per hour or less, a maximum noise limit of eighty-two decibels;

(b) When operated at a speed of more than thirty-five miles per hour, a maximum noise limit of eighty-six decibels.

(C) Maximum noise limits established pursuant to division (B) of this section shall be measured on the “A” scale of a standard sound level meter meeting the applicable requirements for a type 2 sound level meter as defined in American national standards institute standard S1.4 – 1983, or the most recent revision thereof. Measurement practices shall be in substantial conformity with standards and recommended practice established by the society of automotive engineers, including SAE standard J 986 A NOV81, SAE standard J 366 MAR85, SAE standard J 331 A, and such other standards and practices as may be approved by the federal government.

(D) No regulation enacted under division (B) of this section shall be effective until signs giving notice of the regulation are posted upon or at the entrance to the highway or part thereof affected, as may be most appropriate.

(E) A board of county commissioners of any county may regulate noise from passenger cars, motorcycles, or other devices using internal combustion engines in the unincorporated area of the county, and a board of township trustees may regulate such noise in the unincorporated area of the township, in any of the following ways:

(1) By prohibiting operating or causing to be operated any motor vehicle, agricultural tractor, motorcycle, all-purpose vehicle, or snowmobile not equipped with a factory-installed muffler or equivalent muffler in good working order and in constant operation;

(2) By prohibiting the removing or rendering inoperative, or causing to be removed or rendered inoperative, other than for purposes of maintenance, repair, or replacement, of any muffler;

(3) By prohibiting the discharge into the open air of exhaust of any stationary or portable internal combustion engine except through a factory-installed muffler or equivalent muffler in good working order and in constant operation;

(4) By prohibiting racing the motor of any vehicle described in division (E)(1) of this section in such a manner that the exhaust system emits a loud, cracking, or chattering noise unusual to its normal operation.

(F) Whoever violates any maximum noise limit established as provided in division (B) of this section or any of the prohibitions authorized in division (E) of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. Fines collected under this section by the county shall be paid into the county general fund, and such fines collected by the township shall be paid into the township general fund.

No regulation adopted under this section shall apply to commercial racetrack operations.

Effective Date: 06-26-1986

(A) Every motor vehicle, motorcycle, and trackless trolley shall be equipped with a mirror so located as to reflect to the operator a view of the highway to the rear of such vehicle, motorcycle, or trackless trolley. Operators of vehicles, motorcycles, streetcars, and trackless trolleys shall have a clear and unobstructed view to the front and to both sides of their vehicles, motorcycles, streetcars, or trackless trolleys and shall have a clear view to the rear of their vehicles, motorcycles, streetcars, or trackless trolleys by mirror.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) No person shall drive any motor vehicle on a street or highway in this state, other than a motorcycle or motorized bicycle, that is not equipped with a windshield.

(B) No person shall drive any motor vehicle, other than a bus, with any sign, poster, or other nontransparent material upon the front windshield, sidewings, side, or rear windows of such vehicle other than a certificate or other paper required to be displayed by law, except that there may be in the lower left-hand or right-hand corner of the windshield a sign, poster, or decal not to exceed four inches in height by six inches in width. No sign, poster, or decal shall be displayed in the front windshield in such a manner as to conceal the vehicle identification number for the motor vehicle when, in accordance with federal law, that number is located inside the vehicle passenger compartment and so placed as to be readable through the vehicle glazing without moving any part of the vehicle.

(C) The windshield on every motor vehicle, streetcar, and trackless trolley shall be equipped with a device for cleaning rain, snow, or other moisture from the windshield. The device shall be maintained in good working order and so constructed as to be controlled or operated by the operator of the vehicle, streetcar, or trackless trolley.

(D) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) The director of public safety, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt rules governing the use of tinted glass, and the use of transparent, nontransparent, translucent, and reflectorized materials in or on motor vehicle windshields, side windows, sidewings, and rear windows that prevent a person of normal vision looking into the motor vehicle from seeing or identifying persons or objects inside the motor vehicle.

(B) The rules adopted under this section may provide for persons who meet either of the following qualifications:

(1) On November 11, 1994, or the effective date of any rule adopted under this section, own a motor vehicle that does not conform to the requirements of this section or of any rule adopted under this section;

(2) Establish residency in this state and are required to register a motor vehicle that does not conform to the requirements of this section or of any rule adopted under this section.

(C) No person shall operate, on any highway or other public or private property open to the public for vehicular travel or parking, lease, or rent any motor vehicle that is registered in this state unless the motor vehicle conforms to the requirements of this section and of any applicable rule adopted under this section.

(D) No person shall install in or on any motor vehicle, any glass or other material that fails to conform to the requirements of this section or of any rule adopted under this section.

(E) No used motor vehicle dealer or new motor vehicle dealer, as defined in section 4517.01 of the Revised Code, shall sell any motor vehicle that fails to conform to the requirements of this section or of any rule adopted under this section.

(F) No reflectorized materials shall be permitted upon or in any front windshield, side windows, sidewings, or rear window.

(G) This section does not apply to the manufacturer’s tinting or glazing of motor vehicle windows or windshields that is otherwise in compliance with or permitted by federal motor vehicle safety standard number two hundred five.

(H) With regard to any side window behind a driver’s seat or any rear window other than any window on an emergency door, this section does not apply to any school bus used to transport a child with disabilities pursuant to Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code, whom it is impossible or impractical to transport by regular school bus in the course of regular route transportation provided by a school district. As used in this division, ” child with disabilities” has the same meaning as in section 3323.01 of the Revised Code.

(I) This section does not apply to any school bus that is to be sold and operated outside this state.

(J) Whoever violates division (C), (D), (E), or (F) of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007

(A) Notwithstanding section 4513.24 and division (F) of section 4513.241 of the Revised Code or any rule adopted thereunder, a decal, whether reflectorized or not, may be displayed upon any side window or sidewing of a motor vehicle if all of the following are met:

(1) The decal is necessary for public or private security arrangements to which the motor vehicle periodically is subjected;

(2) The decal is no larger than is necessary to accomplish the security arrangements;

(3) The decal does not obscure the vision of the motor vehicle operator or prevent a person looking into the motor vehicle from seeing or identifying persons or objects inside the motor vehicle.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Every solid tire, as defined in section 4501.01 of the Revised Code, on a vehicle shall have rubber or other resilient material on its entire traction surface at least one inch thick above the edge of the flange of the entire periphery.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) No person shall sell any new motor vehicle nor shall any new motor vehicle be registered, and no person shall operate any motor vehicle, which is registered in this state and which has been manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 1936, unless the motor vehicle is equipped with safety glass wherever glass is used in the windshields, doors, partitions, rear windows, and windows on each side immediately adjacent to the rear window.

“Safety glass” means any product composed of glass so manufactured, fabricated, or treated as substantially to prevent shattering and flying of the glass when it is struck or broken, or such other or similar product as may be approved by the registrar of motor vehicles.

Glass other than safety glass shall not be offered for sale, or sold for use in, or installed in any door, window, partition, or windshield that is required by this section to be equipped with safety glass.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A)(1) No person shall operate any motor vehicle manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 1954, unless the vehicle is equipped with electrical or mechanical directional signals.

(2) No person shall operate any motorcycle or motor-driven cycle manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 1968, unless the vehicle is equipped with electrical or mechanical directional signals.

(B) “Directional signals” means an electrical or mechanical signal device capable of clearly indicating an intention to turn either to the right or to the left and which shall be visible from both the front and rear.

(C) All mechanical signal devices shall be self-illuminating devices when in use at the times mentioned in section 4513.03 of the Revised Code.

(D) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) As used in this section and in section 4513.263 of the Revised Code, the component parts of a “seat safety belt” include a belt, anchor attachment assembly, and a buckle or closing device.

(B) No person shall sell, lease, rent, or operate any passenger car, as defined in division (E) of section 4501.01 of the Revised Code, that is registered or to be registered in this state and that is manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 1962, unless the passenger car is equipped with sufficient anchorage units at the attachment points for attaching at least two sets of seat safety belts to its front seat. Such anchorage units at the attachment points shall be of such construction, design, and strength to support a loop load pull of not less than four thousand pounds for each belt.

(C) No person shall sell, lease, or rent any passenger car, as defined in division (E) of section 4501.01 of the Revised Code, that is registered or to be registered in this state and that is manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 1966, unless the passenger car has installed in its front seat at least two seat safety belt assemblies.

(D) After January 1, 1966, neither any seat safety belt for use in a motor vehicle nor any component part of any such seat safety belt shall be sold in this state unless the seat safety belt or the component part satisfies the minimum standard of specifications established by the society of automotive engineers for automotive seat belts and unless the seat safety belt or component part is labeled so as to indicate that it meets those minimum standard specifications.

(E) Each sale, lease, or rental in violation of this section constitutes a separate offense.

(F) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) As used in this section and in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code:

(1) “Automobile” means any commercial tractor, passenger car, commercial car, or truck that is required to be factory-equipped with an occupant restraining device for the operator or any passenger by regulations adopted by the United States secretary of transportation pursuant to the “National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966,” 80 Stat. 719, 15 U.S.C.A. 1392.

(2) “Occupant restraining device” means a seat safety belt, shoulder belt, harness, or other safety device for restraining a person who is an operator of or passenger in an automobile and that satisfies the minimum federal vehicle safety standards established by the United States department of transportation.

(3) “Passenger” means any person in an automobile, other than its operator, who is occupying a seating position for which an occupant restraining device is provided.

(4) “Commercial tractor,” “passenger car,” and “commercial car” have the same meanings as in section 4501.01 of the Revised Code.

(5) “Vehicle” and “motor vehicle,” as used in the definitions of the terms set forth in division (A)(4) of this section, have the same meanings as in section 4511.01 of the Revised Code.

(6) “Tort action” means a civil action for damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property. “Tort action” includes a product liability claim, as defined in section 2307.71 of the Revised Code, and an asbestos claim, as defined in section 2307.91 of the Revised Code, but does not include a civil action for damages for breach of contract or another agreement between persons.

(B) No person shall do any of the following:

(1) Operate an automobile on any street or highway unless that person is wearing all of the available elements of a properly adjusted occupant restraining device, or operate a school bus that has an occupant restraining device installed for use in its operator’s seat unless that person is wearing all of the available elements of the device, as properly adjusted;

(2) Operate an automobile on any street or highway unless each passenger in the automobile who is subject to the requirement set forth in division (B)(3) of this section is wearing all of the available elements of a properly adjusted occupant restraining device;

(3) Occupy, as a passenger, a seating position on the front seat of an automobile being operated on any street or highway unless that person is wearing all of the available elements of a properly adjusted occupant restraining device;

(4) Operate a taxicab on any street or highway unless all factory-equipped occupant restraining devices in the taxicab are maintained in usable form.

(C) Division (B)(3) of this section does not apply to a person who is required by section 4511.81 of the Revised Code to be secured in a child restraint device. Division (B)(1) of this section does not apply to a person who is an employee of the United States postal service or of a newspaper home delivery service, during any period in which the person is engaged in the operation of an automobile to deliver mail or newspapers to addressees. Divisions (B)(1) and (3) of this section do not apply to a person who has an affidavit signed by a physician licensed to practice in this state under Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code or a chiropractor licensed to practice in this state under Chapter 4734. of the Revised Code that states that the person has a physical impairment that makes use of an occupant restraining device impossible or impractical.

(D) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no law enforcement officer shall cause an operator of an automobile being operated on any street or highway to stop the automobile for the sole purpose of determining whether a violation of division (B) of this section has been or is being committed or for the sole purpose of issuing a ticket, citation, or summons for a violation of that nature or causing the arrest of or commencing a prosecution of a person for a violation of that nature, and no law enforcement officer shall view the interior or visually inspect any automobile being operated on any street or highway for the sole purpose of determining whether a violation of that nature has been or is being committed.

(E) All fines collected for violations of division (B) of this section, or for violations of any ordinance or resolution of a political subdivision that is substantively comparable to that division, shall be forwarded to the treasurer of state for deposit as follows:

(1) Eight per cent shall be deposited into the seat belt education fund, which is hereby created in the state treasury, and shall be used by the department of public safety to establish a seat belt education program.

(2) Eight per cent shall be deposited into the elementary school program fund, which is hereby created in the state treasury, and shall be used by the department of public safety to establish and administer elementary school programs that encourage seat safety belt use.

(3) Two per cent shall be deposited into the occupational licensing and regulatory fund created by section 4743.05 of the Revised Code.

(4) Twenty-eight per cent shall be deposited into the trauma and emergency medical services fund, which is hereby created in the state treasury, and shall be used by the department of public safety for the administration of the division of emergency medical services and the state board of emergency medical services.

(5) Fifty-four per cent shall be deposited into the trauma and emergency medical services grants fund, which is hereby created in the state treasury, and shall be used by the state board of emergency medical services to make grants, in accordance with section 4765.07 of the Revised Code and rules the board adopts under section 4765.11 of the Revised Code.

(F)(1) Subject to division (F)(2) of this section, the failure of a person to wear all of the available elements of a properly adjusted occupant restraining device in violation of division (B)(1) or (3) of this section or the failure of a person to ensure that each minor who is a passenger of an automobile being operated by that person is wearing all of the available elements of a properly adjusted occupant restraining device in violation of division (B)(2) of this section shall not be considered or used by the trier of fact in a tort action as evidence of negligence or contributory negligence. But, the trier of fact may determine based on evidence admitted consistent with the Ohio Rules of Evidence that the failure contributed to the harm alleged in the tort action and may diminish a recovery of compensatory damages that represents noneconomic loss, as defined in section 2307.011 of the Revised Code, in a tort action that could have been recovered but for the plaintiff’s failure to wear all of the available elements of a properly adjusted occupant restraining device. Evidence of that failure shall not be used as a basis for a criminal prosecution of the person other than a prosecution for a violation of this section; and shall not be admissible as evidence in a criminal action involving the person other than a prosecution for a violation of this section.

(2) If, at the time of an accident involving a passenger car equipped with occupant restraining devices, any occupant of the passenger car who sustained injury or death was not wearing an available occupant restraining device, was not wearing all of the available elements of such a device, or was not wearing such a device as properly adjusted, then, consistent with the Rules of Evidence, the fact that the occupant was not wearing the available occupant restraining device, was not wearing all of the available elements of such a device, or was not wearing such a device as properly adjusted is admissible in evidence in relation to any claim for relief in a tort action to the extent that the claim for relief satisfies all of the following:

(a) It seeks to recover damages for injury or death to the occupant.

(b) The defendant in question is the manufacturer, designer, distributor, or seller of the passenger car.

(c) The claim for relief against the defendant in question is that the injury or death sustained by the occupant was enhanced or aggravated by some design defect in the passenger car or that the passenger car was not crashworthy.

(G)(1) Whoever violates division (B)(1) of this section shall be fined thirty dollars.

(2) Whoever violates division (B)(3) of this section shall be fined twenty dollars.

(3) Except as otherwise provided in this division, whoever violates division (B)(4) of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of division (B)(4) of this section, whoever violates division (B)(4) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

Effective Date: 03-09-2004; 04-07-2005; 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

(A) No person shall operate any motor truck, trackless trolley, bus, or commercial tractor upon any highway outside the corporate limits of municipalities at any time from sunset to sunrise unless there is carried in such vehicle and trackless trolley, except as provided in division (B) of this section, the following equipment which shall be of the types approved by the director of transportation:

(1) At least three flares or three red reflectors or three red electric lanterns, each of which is capable of being seen and distinguished at a distance of five hundred feet under normal atmospheric conditions at night time;

(2) At least three red-burning fusees, unless red reflectors or red electric lanterns are carried;

(3) At least two red cloth flags, not less than twelve inches square, with standards to support them;

(4) The type of red reflectors shall comply with such standards and specifications in effect on September 16, 1963 or later established by the interstate commerce commission and must be certified as meeting such standards by underwriter’s laboratories.

(B) No person shall operate at the time and under the conditions stated in this section any motor vehicle used in transporting flammable liquids in bulk, or in transporting compressed flammable gases, unless there is carried in such vehicle three red electric lanterns or three red reflectors meeting the requirements stated in division (A) of this section. There shall not be carried in any such vehicle any flare, fusee, or signal produced by a flame.

(C) This section does not apply to any person who operates any motor vehicle in a work area designated by protection equipment devices that are displayed and used in accordance with the manual adopted by the department of transportation under section 4511.09 of the Revised Code.

(D) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Whenever any motor truck, trackless trolley, bus, commercial tractor, trailer, semi-trailer, or pole trailer is disabled upon the traveled portion of any highway or the shoulder thereof outside of any municipality, or upon any freeway, expressway, thruway and connecting, entering or exiting ramps within a municipality, at any time when lighted lamps are required on vehicles and trackless trolleys, the operator of such vehicle or trackless trolley shall display the following warning devices upon the highway during the time the vehicle or trackless trolley is so disabled on the highway except as provided in division (B) of this section:

(1) A lighted fusee shall be immediately placed on the roadway at the traffic side of such vehicle or trackless trolley, unless red electric lanterns or red reflectors are displayed.

(2) Within the burning period of the fusee and as promptly as possible, three lighted flares or pot torches, or three red reflectors or three red electric lanterns shall be placed on the roadway as follows:

(a) One at a distance of forty paces or approximately one hundred feet in advance of the vehicle;

(b) One at a distance of forty paces or approximately one hundred feet to the rear of the vehicle or trackless trolley except as provided in this section, each in the center of the lane of traffic occupied by the disabled vehicle or trackless trolley;

(c) One at the traffic side of the vehicle or trackless trolley.

(B) Whenever any vehicle used in transporting flammable liquids in bulk, or in transporting compressed flammable gases, is disabled upon a highway at any time or place mentioned in division (A) of this section, the driver of such vehicle shall display upon the roadway the following warning devices:

(1) One red electric lantern or one red reflector shall be immediately placed on the roadway at the traffic side of the vehicle;

(2) Two other red electric lanterns or two other red reflectors shall be placed to the front and rear of the vehicle in the same manner prescribed for flares in division (A) of this section.

(C) When a vehicle of a type specified in division (B) of this section is disabled, the use of flares, fusees, or any signal produced by flame as warning signals is prohibited.

(D) Whenever any vehicle or trackless trolley of a type referred to in this section is disabled upon the traveled portion of a highway or the shoulder thereof, outside of any municipality, or upon any freeway, expressway, thruway and connecting, entering or exiting ramps within a municipality, at any time when the display of fusees, flares, red reflectors, or electric lanterns is not required, the operator of such vehicle or trackless trolley shall display two red flags upon the roadway in the lane of traffic occupied by the disabled vehicle or trackless trolley, one at a distance of forty paces or approximately one hundred feet in advance of the vehicle or trackless trolley, and one at a distance of forty paces or approximately one hundred feet to the rear of the vehicle or trackless trolley, except as provided in this section.

(E) The flares, fusees, lanterns, red reflectors, and flags to be displayed as required in this section shall conform with the requirements of section 4513.27 of the Revised Code applicable thereto.

(F) In the event the vehicle or trackless trolley is disabled near a curve, crest of a hill, or other obstruction of view, the flare, flag, reflector, or lantern in that direction shall be placed as to afford ample warning to other users of the highway, but in no case shall it be placed less than forty paces or approximately one hundred feet nor more than one hundred twenty paces or approximately three hundred feet from the disabled vehicle or trackless trolley.

(G) This section does not apply to the operator of any vehicle in a work area designated by protection equipment devices that are displayed and used in accordance with the manual adopted by the department of transportation under section 4511.09 of the Revised Code.

(H) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) Any person operating any vehicle transporting explosives upon a highway shall at all times comply with the following requirements:

(1) Said 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) Said 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.

(3) The director of transportation may promulgate such regulations governing the transportation of explosives and other dangerous articles by vehicles upon the highway as are reasonably necessary to enforce sections 4513.01 to 4513.37 of the Revised Code.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) No passenger-type vehicle shall be operated on a highway with any load carried on such vehicle which extends more than six inches beyond the line of the fenders on the vehicle’s left side.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) No vehicle shall be driven or moved on any highway unless the 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 substance may be dropped for the purpose of securing traction, or water or other substance may be sprinkled on a roadway in cleaning or maintaining the 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 highway unless the load is covered with a sufficient cover to prevent the load or any part of the load from spilling onto the highway.

(C) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) When one vehicle is towing another vehicle, the drawbar or other connection shall be of sufficient strength to pull all the weight towed thereby, and the 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.

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.

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.

Every trailer or semitrailer, except pole and cable trailers and pole and cable dollies operated by a public utility as defined in section 5727.01 of the Revised Code, 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.

(B) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

Any police officer having reason to believe that the weight of a vehicle and its load is unlawful may require the driver of said vehicle to stop and submit to a weighing of it by means of a compact, self-contained, portable, sealed scale specially adapted to determine the wheel loads of vehicles on highways; a sealed scale permanently installed in a fixed location, having a load-receiving element specially adapted to determining the wheel loads of highway vehicles; a sealed scale, permanently installed in a fixed location, having a load-receiving element specially adapted to determining the combined load of all wheels on a single axle or on successive axles of a highway vehicle, or a sealed scale adapted to weighing highway vehicles, loaded or unloaded. The driver of such vehicle shall, if necessary, be directed to proceed to the nearest available of such sealed scales to accomplish the weighing, provided such scales are within three miles of the point where such vehicle is stopped. Any vehicle stopped in accordance with this section may be held by the police officer for a reasonable time only to accomplish the weighing as prescribed by this section. All scales used in determining the lawful weight of a vehicle and its load shall be annually compared by a municipal, county, or state sealer with the state standards or standards approved by the state and such scales shall not be sealed if they do not conform to the state standards or standards approved by the state.

At each end of a permanently installed scale, there shall be a straight approach in the same plane as the platform, of sufficient length and width to insure the level positioning of vehicles during weight determinations.

During determination of weight by compact, self-contained, portable, sealed scales, specially adapted to determining the wheel loads of vehicles on highways, they shall always be used on terrain of sufficient length and width to accommodate the entire vehicle being weighed. Such terrain shall be level, or if not level, it shall be of such elevation that the difference in elevation between the wheels on any one axle does not exceed two inches and the difference in elevation between axles being weighed does not exceed one-fourth inch per foot of the distance between said axles.

In all determination of all weights, except gross weight, by compact, self-contained, portable sealed scales, specially adapted to determining the wheel loads of vehicles on highways, all successive axles, twelve feet or less apart, shall be weighed simultaneously by placing one such scale under the outside wheel of each such axle. In determinations of gross weight by the use of compact, self-contained, portable sealed scales, specially adapted to determining the wheel loads of vehicles on highways, all axles shall be weighed simultaneously by placing one such scale under the outside wheel of each axle.

Whenever such officer upon weighing a vehicle and load determines that the weight is unlawful, he may require the driver to stop the vehicle in a suitable place and remain standing until such portion of the load is removed as is necessary to reduce the weight of such vehicle to the limit permitted under sections 5577.01 to 5577.14 of the Revised Code.

Whenever local authorities determine upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation that the weight limits permitted under sections 5577.01 to 5577.14 of the Revised Code, or the weight limits permitted when compact, self-contained, portable, sealed scales, specially adapted to determining the wheel loads of vehicles on highways, are used on any part of a state route under their jurisdiction is greater than is reasonable under the conditions found to exist at such location, the local authorities may, by resolution, request the director of transportation to determine and declare reasonable weight limits. Upon receipt of such request the director may determine and declare reasonable weight limits at such location, and if the director alters the weight limits set by sections 5577.01 to 5577.14 and this section of the Revised Code, then such altered weight limits shall become effective only when appropriate signs giving notice thereof are erected at such location by local authorities.

The director may withdraw his approval of any altered weight limit whenever, in his opinion, any altered weight limit becomes unreasonable, and upon such withdrawal the altered weight limit shall become ineffective, and the signs relating thereto shall be immediately removed by local authorities. Alteration of weight limits on state routes by local authorities is not effective until alteration has been approved by the director.

This section does not derogate or limit the power and authority conferred upon the director or boards of county commissioners by section 5577.07 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 11-26-1975

(A) The director of transportation with respect to all highways that are a part of the state highway system and local authorities with respect to highways under their jurisdiction, upon application in writing and for good cause shown, may issue a special permit in writing authorizing the applicant to operate or move a vehicle or combination of vehicles of a size or weight of vehicle or load exceeding the maximum specified in sections 5577.01 to 5577.09 of the Revised Code, or otherwise not in conformity with sections 4513.01 to 4513.37 of the Revised Code, upon any highway under the jurisdiction of the authority granting the permit.

For purposes of this section, the director may designate certain state highways or portions of state highways as special economic development highways. If an application submitted to the director under this section involves travel of a nonconforming vehicle or combination of vehicles upon a special economic development highway, the director, in determining whether good cause has been shown that issuance of a permit is justified, shall consider the effect the travel of the vehicle or combination of vehicles will have on the economic development in the area in which the designated highway or portion of highway is located.

(B) Notwithstanding sections 715.22 and 723.01 of the Revised Code, the holder of a special permit issued by the director under this section may move the vehicle or combination of vehicles described in the special permit on any highway that is a part of the state highway system when the movement is partly within and partly without the corporate limits of a municipal corporation. No local authority shall require any other permit or license or charge any license fee or other charge against the holder of a permit for the movement of a vehicle or combination of vehicles on any highway that is a part of the state highway system. The director shall not require the holder of a permit issued by a local authority to obtain a special permit for the movement of vehicles or combination of vehicles on highways within the jurisdiction of the local authority. Permits may be issued for any period of time not to exceed one year, as the director in the director’s discretion or a local authority in its discretion determines advisable, or for the duration of any public construction project.

(C) The application for a permit shall be in the form that the director or local authority prescribes. The director or local authority may prescribe a permit fee to be imposed and collected when any permit described in this section is issued. The permit fee may be in an amount sufficient to reimburse the director or local authority for the administrative costs incurred in issuing the permit, and also to cover the cost of the normal and expected damage caused to the roadway or a street or highway structure as the result of the operation of the nonconforming vehicle or combination of vehicles. The director, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall establish a schedule of fees for permits issued by the director under this section.

For the purposes of this section and of rules adopted by the director under this section, milk transported in bulk by vehicle is deemed a nondivisible load.

(D) The director or local authority may issue or withhold a permit. If a permit is to be issued, the director or local authority may limit or prescribe conditions of operation for the vehicle and may require the posting of a bond or other security conditioned upon the sufficiency of the permit fee to compensate for damage caused to the roadway or a street or highway structure. In addition, a local authority, as a condition of issuance of an overweight permit, may require the applicant to develop and enter into a mutual agreement with the local authority to compensate for or to repair excess damage caused to the roadway by travel under the permit.

For a permit that will allow travel of a nonconforming vehicle or combination of vehicles on a special economic development highway, the director, as a condition of issuance, may require the applicant to agree to make periodic payments to the department to compensate for damage caused to the roadway by travel under the permit.

(E) Every permit shall be carried in the vehicle or combination of vehicles to which it refers and shall be open to inspection by any police officer or authorized agent of any authority granting the permit. No person shall violate any of the terms of a permit.

(F) The director may debar an applicant from applying for a special permit under this section upon a finding based on a reasonable belief that the applicant has done any of the following:

(1) Abused the process by repeatedly submitting false information or false travel plans or by using another company or individual’s name, insurance, or escrow account without proper authorization;

(2) Failed to comply with or substantially perform under a previously issued special permit according to its terms, conditions, and specifications within specified time limits;

(3) Failed to cooperate in the application process for the special permit or in any other procedures that are related to the issuance of the special permit by refusing to provide information or documents required in a permit or by failing to respond to and correct matters related to the special permit;

(4) Accumulated repeated justified complaints regarding performance under a special permit that was previously issued to the applicant or previously failed to obtain a special permit when such a permit was required;

(5) Attempted to influence a public employee to breach ethical conduct standards;

(6) Been convicted of a criminal offense related to the application for, or performance under, a special permit, including, but not limited to, bribery, falsification, fraud or destruction of records, receiving stolen property, and any other offense that directly reflects on the applicant’s integrity or commercial driver’s license;

(7) Accumulated repeated convictions under a state or federal safety law governing commercial motor vehicles or a rule or regulation adopted under such a law;

(8) Accumulated repeated convictions under a law, rule, or regulation governing the movement of traffic over the public streets and highways;

(9) Failed to pay any fees associated with any permitted operation or move;

(10) Deliberately or willfully submitted false or misleading information in connection with the application for, or performance under, a special permit issued under this section.

If the applicant is a partnership, association, or corporation, the director also may debar from consideration for special permits any partner of the partnership, or the officers, directors, or employees of the association or corporation being debarred.

The director may adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code governing the debarment of an applicant.

(G) When the director reasonably believes that grounds for debarment exist, the director shall send the person that is subject to debarment a notice of the proposed debarment. A notice of proposed debarment shall indicate the grounds for the debarment of the person and the procedure for requesting a hearing. The notice and hearing shall be in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. If the person does not respond with a request for a hearing in the manner specified in that chapter, the director shall issue the debarment decision without a hearing and shall notify the person of the decision by certified mail, return receipt requested. The debarment period may be of any length determined by the director, and the director may modify or rescind the debarment at any time. During the period of debarment, the director shall not issue, or consider issuing, a special permit to any partnership, association, or corporation that is affiliated with a debarred person. After the debarment period expires, the person, and any partnership, association, or corporation affiliated with the person, may reapply for a special permit.

(H) Whoever violates this section shall be punished as provided in section 4513.99 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004; 03-29-2005

(A) All fines collected under sections 4511.01 to 4511.78, 4511.99, and 4513.01 to 4513.37 of the Revised Code shall be paid into the county treasury and, with the exception of that portion distributed under section 3375.53 of the Revised Code, shall be placed to the credit of the fund for the maintenance and repair of the highways within that county, except that:

(1) All fines for violations of division (B) of section 4513.263 shall be delivered to the treasurer of state as provided in division (E) of section 4513.263 of the Revised Code.

(2) All fines collected from, or moneys arising from bonds forfeited by, persons apprehended or arrested by state highway patrolmen shall be distributed as provided in section 5503.04 of the Revised Code.

(3)(a) Subject to division (E) of section 4513.263 of the Revised Code and except as otherwise provided in division (A)(3)(b) of this section, one-half of all fines collected from, and one-half of all moneys arising from bonds forfeited by, persons apprehended or arrested by a township constable or other township police officer shall be paid to the township treasury to be placed to the credit of the general fund.

(b) All fines collected from, and all moneys arising from bonds forfeited by, persons apprehended or arrested by a township constable or other township police officer pursuant to division (B)(2) of section 4513.39 of the Revised Code for a violation of section 4511.21 of the Revised Code or any other law, ordinance, or regulation pertaining to speed that occurred on a highway included as part of the interstate system, as defined in section 5516.01 of the Revised Code, shall be paid into the county treasury and be credited as provided in the first paragraph of this section.

(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or of any other section of the Revised Code:

(1) All fines collected from, and all moneys arising from bonds forfeited by, persons arrested under division (E)(1) or (2) of section 2935.03 of the Revised Code are deemed to be collected, and to arise, from arrests made within the jurisdiction in which the arresting officer is appointed, elected, or employed, for violations of one of the sections or chapters of the Revised Code listed in division (E)(1) of that section and shall be distributed accordingly.

(2) All fines collected from, and all moneys arising from bonds forfeited by, persons arrested under division (E)(3) of section 2935.03 of the Revised Code are deemed to be collected, and to arise, from arrests made within the jurisdiction in which the arresting officer is appointed, elected, or employed, for violations of municipal ordinances that are substantially equivalent to one of the sections or one of the provisions of one of the chapters of the Revised Code listed in division (E)(1) of that section and for violations of one of the sections or one of the provisions of one of the chapters of the Revised Code listed in division (E)(1) of that section, and shall be distributed accordingly.

Effective Date: 10-12-1994; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007

(A) No person shall resist, hinder, obstruct, or abuse any sheriff, constable, or other official while that official is attempting to arrest offenders under any provision of sections 4511.01 to 4511.78, 4511.99, and 4513.01 to 4513.37 of the Revised Code. No person shall interfere with any person charged under any provision of any of those sections with the enforcement of the law relative to public highways.

(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) No person shall knowingly present, display, or orally communicate a false name, social security number, or date of birth to a law enforcement officer who is in the process of issuing to the person a traffic ticket or complaint.

(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

Every county court judge, mayor, and clerk of a court of record shall keep a full record of every case in which a person is charged with any violation of sections 4511.01 to 4511.78, section 4511.99, and sections 4513.01 to 4513.37 of the Revised Code, or of any other law or ordinance regulating the operation of vehicles, streetcars, and trackless trolleys on highways.

Within ten days after the conviction or forfeiture of bail of a person upon a charge of violating any of such sections or other law or ordinance regulating the operation of vehicles, streetcars, and trackless trolleys on highways, said judge, mayor, or clerk shall prepare and immediately forward to the department of public safety an abstract of the court record covering the case in which said person was convicted for forfeited bail, which abstract must be certified by the person required to prepare the same to be true and correct.

Said abstract shall be made upon a form approved and furnished by the department and shall include the name and address of the party charged, the number of his driver’s or commercial driver’s license, the registration number of the vehicle involved, the nature of the offense, the date of hearing, the plea, the judgment, or whether bail forfeited, and the amount of the fine or forfeiture.

Every court of record shall also forward a like report to the department upon the conviction of any person of manslaughter or other felony in the commission of which a vehicle was used.

The failure, refusal, or neglect of such officer to comply with this section constitutes misconduct in office and is ground for removal therefrom.

The department shall keep all abstracts received under this section at its main office.

Effective Date: 11-12-1992

No person shall be prohibited from owning or operating a licensed collector’s vehicle or historical motor vehicle that is equipped with a feature of design, type of material, or article of equipment that was not in violation of any motor vehicle equipment law of this state or of its political subdivisions in effect during the calendar year the vehicle was manufactured, and no licensed collector’s vehicle or historical motor vehicle shall be prohibited from displaying or using any such feature of design, type of material, or article of equipment.

No person shall be prohibited from owning or operating a licensed collector’s vehicle or historical motor vehicle for failing to comply with an equipment provision contained in Chapter 4513. of the Revised Code or in any state rule that was enacted or adopted in a year subsequent to that in which the vehicle was manufactured, and no licensed collector’s vehicle or historical motor vehicle shall be required to comply with an equipment provision enacted into Chapter 4513. of the Revised Code or adopted by state rule subsequent to the calendar year in which it was manufactured. No political subdivision shall require an owner of a licensed collector’s vehicle or historical motor vehicle to comply with equipment provisions contained in laws or rules that were enacted or adopted subsequent to the calendar year in which the vehicle was manufactured, and no political subdivision shall prohibit the operation of a licensed collector’s vehicle or historical motor vehicle for failure to comply with any such equipment laws or rules.

Effective Date: 09-15-1975

(A) The state highway patrol and sheriffs or their deputies shall exercise, to the exclusion of all other peace officers except within municipal corporations and except as specified in division (B) of this section and division (E) of section 2935.03 of the Revised Code, the power to make arrests for violations on all state highways, of sections 4503.11, 4503.21, 4511.14 to 4511.16, 4511.20 to 4511.23, 4511.26 to 4511.40, 4511.42 to 4511.48, 4511.58, 4511.59, 4511.62 to 4511.71, 4513.03 to 4513.13, 4513.15 to 4513.22, 4513.24 to 4513.34, 4549.01, 4549.08 to 4549.12, and 4549.62 of the Revised Code.

(B) A member of the police force of a township police district created under section 505.48 of the Revised Code, and a township constable appointed pursuant to section 509.01 of the Revised Code, who has received a certificate from the Ohio peace officer training commission under section 109.75 of the Revised Code, shall exercise the power to make arrests for violations of those sections listed in division (A) of this section, other than sections 4513.33 and 4513.34 of the Revised Code, as follows:

(1) If the population of the township that created the township police district served by the member’s police force or the township that is served by the township constable is fifty thousand or less, the member or constable shall exercise that power on those portions of all state highways, except those highways included as part of the interstate system, as defined in section 5516.01 of the Revised Code, that are located within the township police district, in the case of a member of a township police district police force, or within the unincorporated territory of the township, in the case of a township constable;

(2) If the population of the township that created the township police district served by the member’s police force or the township that is served by the township constable is greater than fifty thousand, the member or constable shall exercise that power on those portions of all state highways and highways included as part of the interstate highway system, as defined in section 5516.01 of the Revised Code, that are located within the township police district, in the case of a member of a township police district police force, or within the unincorporated territory of the township, in the case of a township constable.

Effective Date: 10-12-1994; 09-23-2004

When a safety device has been installed in the traveled portion of a street at a railroad grade crossing for the protection of the traveling public, the municipal corporation shall place a warning sign not less than two hundred feet from the crossing. The driver of any vehicle shall place his vehicle under control at the location of said warning signs so as to be able to bring said vehicle to a complete stop at said safety device. Colliding with such safety device at the crossing is prima-facie evidence that the driver is a reckless driver.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

(A) No owner of a licensed collector’s vehicle, a historical motor vehicle, or a collector’s vehicle that is an agricultural tractor or traction engine shall be required to comply with an emission, noise control, or fuel usage provision contained in a law or rule of this state or its political subdivisions that was enacted or adopted subsequent to the calendar year in which the vehicle was manufactured.

(B) No person shall be prohibited from operating a licensed collector’s vehicle, a historical motor vehicle, or a collector’s vehicle that is an agricultural tractor or traction engine for failing to comply with an emission, noise control, or fuel usage law or rule of this state or its political subdivisions that was enacted or adopted subsequent to the calendar year in which his vehicle was manufactured.

(C) Except as provided in section 4505.061 of the Revised Code, no person shall be required to submit his collector’s vehicle to a physical inspection prior to or in connection with an issuance of title to, or the sale or transfer of ownership of s