Definitions

302.010. Definitions. — Except where otherwise provided, when used in this chapter, the following words and phrases mean:

(1) "Circuit court", each circuit court in the state;

(2) "Commercial motor vehicle", a motor vehicle designed or regularly used for carrying freight and merchandise, or more than fifteen passengers;

(3) "Conviction", any final conviction; also a forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure a defendant's appearance in court, which forfeiture has not been vacated, shall be equivalent to a conviction, except that when any conviction as a result of which points are assessed pursuant to section 302.302 is appealed, the term conviction means the original judgment of conviction for the purpose of determining the assessment of points, and the date of final judgment affirming the conviction shall be the date determining the beginning of any license suspension or revocation pursuant to section 302.304;

(4) "Criminal history check", a search of criminal records, including criminal history record information as defined in section 43.500, maintained by the Missouri state highway patrol in the Missouri criminal records repository or by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of its criminal history records, including, but not limited to, any record of conviction, plea of guilty or nolo contendre, or finding of guilty in any state for any offense related to alcohol, controlled substances, or drugs;

(5) "Director", the director of revenue acting directly or through the director's authorized officers and agents;

(6) "Farm tractor", every motor vehicle designed and used primarily as a farm implement for drawing plows, mowing machines and other implements of husbandry;

(7) "Highway", any public thoroughfare for vehicles, including state roads, county roads and public streets, avenues, boulevards, parkways, or alleys in any municipality;

(8) "Incompetent to drive a motor vehicle", a person who has become physically incapable of meeting the prescribed requirements of an examination for an operator's license, or who has been adjudged by a probate division of the circuit court in a capacity hearing of being incapacitated;

(9) "License", a license issued by a state to a person which authorizes a person to operate a motor vehicle;

(10) "Motor vehicle", any self-propelled vehicle not operated exclusively upon tracks except motorized bicycles, as defined in section 307.180 and electric bicycles, as defined in section 301.010;

(11) "Motorcycle", a motor vehicle operated on two wheels; however, this definition shall not include motorized bicycles or electric bicycles as such terms are defined in section 301.010;

(12) "Motortricycle", a motor vehicle operated on three wheels, including a motorcycle operated with any conveyance, temporary or otherwise, requiring the use of a third wheel, but excluding an electric bicycle as defined in section 301.010;

(13) "Moving violation", that character of traffic violation where at the time of violation the motor vehicle involved is in motion, except that the term does not include the driving of a motor vehicle without a valid motor vehicle registration license, or violations of sections 304.170 to 304.240, inclusive, relating to sizes and weights of vehicles;

(14) "Municipal court", every division of the circuit court having original jurisdiction to try persons for violations of city ordinances;

(15) "Nonresident", every person who is not a resident of this state;

(16) "Operator", every person who is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle upon a highway;

(17) "Owner", a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then such conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of sections 302.010 to 302.540;

(18) "Record" includes, but is not limited to, papers, documents, facsimile information, microphotographic process, electronically generated or electronically recorded information, digitized images, deposited or filed with the department of revenue;

(19) "Residence address", "residence", or "resident address" shall be the location at which a person has been physically present, and that the person regards as home. A residence address is a person's true, fixed, principal, and permanent home, to which a person intends to return and remain, even though currently residing elsewhere;

(20) "Restricted driving privilege", a sixty-day driving privilege issued by the director of revenue following a suspension of driving privileges for the limited purpose of driving in connection with the driver's business, occupation, employment, formal program of secondary, postsecondary or higher education, or for an alcohol education or treatment program or certified ignition interlock provider, or a ninety-day interlock restricted privilege issued by the director of revenue for the limited purpose of driving in connection with the driver's business, occupation, employment, seeking medical treatment for such driver or a dependent family member, attending school or other institution of higher education, attending alcohol- or drug-treatment programs, seeking the required services of a certified ignition interlock provider, fulfilling court obligations, including required appearances and probation and parole obligations, religious services, the care of a child or children, including scheduled visitation or custodial obligations pursuant to a court order, fueling requirements for any vehicle utilized, and seeking basic nutritional requirements;

(21) "School bus", when used in sections 302.010 to 302.540, means any motor vehicle, either publicly or privately owned, that is designed for carrying more than ten passengers and that is used to transport students to and from school, or to transport pupils properly chaperoned to and from any place within the state for educational purposes. The term school bus shall not include a bus operated by a public utility, municipal corporation or common carrier authorized to conduct local or interstate transportation of passengers when such bus is not traveling a specific school bus route but is:

(a) On a regularly scheduled route for the transportation of fare-paying passengers; or

(b) Furnishing charter service for the transportation of persons enrolled as students on field trips or other special trips or in connection with other special events;

(22) "School bus operator", an operator who operates a school bus as defined in subdivision (21) of this section in the transportation of any schoolchildren and who receives compensation for such service. The term school bus operator shall not include any person who transports schoolchildren as an incident to employment with a school or school district, such as a teacher, coach, administrator, secretary, school nurse, or janitor unless such person is under contract with or employed by a school or school district as a school bus operator;

(23) "Signature", any method determined by the director of revenue for the signing, subscribing or verifying of a record, report, application, driver's license, or other related document that shall have the same validity and consequences as the actual signing by the person providing the record, report, application, driver's license or related document;

(24) "Substance abuse traffic offender program", a program certified by the division of alcohol and drug abuse of the department of mental health to provide education or rehabilitation services pursuant to a professional assessment screening to identify the individual needs of the person who has been referred to the program as the result of an alcohol- or drug-related traffic offense. Successful completion of such a program includes participation in any education or rehabilitation program required to meet the needs identified in the assessment screening. The assignment recommendations based upon such assessment shall be subject to judicial review as provided in subsection 14 of section 302.304 and subsections 1 and 5 of section 302.540;

(25) "Vehicle", any mechanical device on wheels, designed primarily for use, or used on highways, except motorized bicycles, electric bicycles, vehicles propelled or drawn by horses or human power, or vehicles used exclusively on fixed rails or tracks, or cotton trailers or motorized wheelchairs operated by handicapped persons.

(RSMo 1939 § 8443, A. 1949 S.B. 1111, A.L. 1951 p. 678, A.L. 1955 p. 621, A.L. 1961 p. 487, A.L. 1978 H.B. 1634, A.L. 1980 H.B. 995 & 1051, A.L. 1983 S.B. 44 & 45, A.L. 1984 H.B. 1575 Revision, A.L. 1986 S.B. 707, A.L. 1987 S.B. 114 merged with H.B. 384 Revision, A.L. 1988 H.B. 990, A.L. 1989 1st Ex. Sess. H.B. 3, A.L. 1991 H.B. 251, A.L. 1995 H.B. 717 merged with S.B. 24, A.L. 1996 H.B. 1169 & 1271 merged with S.B. 722, A.L. 2002 H.B. 2062, A.L. 2007 S.B. 22, A.L. 2008 S.B. 930 & 947, A.L. 2012 H.B. 1402, A.L. 2015 S.B. 254, A.L. 2021 S.B. 176, A.L. 2022 S.B. 681 & 662)

(1960) An alley in a city is a highway or public thoroughfare within the meaning of state traffic regulations. Timmons V. Kilpatrick (Mo.), 332 S.W.2d 918.