Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes > Title 32 > Chapter 1 > Part IV > Subpart G - Operation of Motorcycles, Motor-Driven Cycles and Bicycles

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Agency: means and includes the boards, commissions, departments, agencies, offices, officers, and other instrumentalities, or any or all of these, within the executive branch of state government which are abolished by this Title or which are transferred and placed within departments of the state government created and established or continued by this Title or transferred to and placed within the office of the governor as provided by this Title. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 36:3
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Attorney-in-fact: A person who, acting as an agent, is given written authorization by another person to transact business for him (her) out of court.
• Autocycle: means a three-wheeled motorcycle on which the driver and all passengers ride in either a partially or completely enclosed seating area or in a side-by-side seating area that is equipped with a rollbar or roll cage, safety belts for all occupants, and is designed to be controlled with a steering mechanism and pedals. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Bicycle: means every device upon which any person or persons, if the design accommodates passengers, may ride, propelled exclusively by human power, or an electric-assisted bicycle as defined in this Section, having a saddle or seat for each rider, and having two tandem wheels, either of which is sixteen inches or more in diameter, or three wheels, any one of which is twenty inches or more in diameter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Bicycle lane: means the part of the roadway adjacent to the travel lane, designated by official signs or markings for the preferential or exclusive use by bicycles and electric mobility aid users. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Bicycle path or trail: means a public way separated by open space, grade, or other physical barrier from motor traffic, either within the highway right-of-way or within an independent right-of-way, that is designated for use by persons riding bicycles. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Class three electric-assisted bicycle: means an electric-assisted bicycle equipped with a motor, which provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of twenty-eight miles per hour. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Commissioner: means the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Concurrent resolution: A legislative measure, designated "S. Con. Res." and numbered consecutively upon introduction, generally employed to address the sentiments of both chambers, to deal with issues or matters affecting both houses, such as a concurrent budget resolution, or to create a temporary joint committee. Concurrent resolutions are not submitted to the President/Governor and thus do not have the force of law.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Transportation and Development. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Driver: means every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Electric-assisted bicycle: means every bicycle upon which any person or persons, if the design accommodates passengers, may ride, having a saddle or seat for each rider, and having two tandem wheels, either of which is sixteen inches or more in diameter, or three wheels, any one of which is twenty inches or more in diameter, equipped with fully operable pedals, and an electric motor of less than seven hundred fifty watts that meets the requirement of one of the following classes:

              (a) "Class one electric-assisted bicycle" means an electric-assisted bicycle equipped with a motor, which provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling and ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of twenty miles per hour. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1

• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Height: means the total vertical dimension of any vehicle above the ground surface including any load and load-holding devices thereon. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way or place of whatever nature publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for the purpose of vehicular travel, including bridges, causeways, tunnels and ferries; synonymous with the word "street". See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Intersection: means : The area embraced within the prolongation or connection of the lateral curb lines, or, if none, then the lateral boundary lines of the roadways of two highways which join one another at, or approximately at, right angles, or the area within which vehicles traveling upon different highways joining at any other angle may come in conflict. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Length: means the total longitudinal dimension of a single vehicle, a trailer, or a semi-trailer. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Local municipal authority: means every council, commission, or other board given authority by the constitution and laws of this state to govern the affairs of a municipality. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Local parish authority: means every police jury, commission, council, or other board given authority by the constitution and laws of this state to govern the affairs of a parish of this state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Motor driven cycle: means every motorcycle, including every motor scooter, with a motor of not to exceed five horsepower. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Motor vehicle: means every vehicle which is self-propelled, and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails, but excluding a motorized bicycle and an electric-assisted bicycle. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Motorcycle: means every motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, but excluding a tractor, a motorized bicycle, and an electric-assisted bicycle. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Motorized bicycle: means a pedal bicycle which may be propelled by human power or helper motor, or by both, but excluding an electric-assisted bicycle, with a motor rated no more than one and one-half brake horsepower, a cylinder capacity not exceeding fifty cubic centimeters, an automatic transmission, and which produces a maximum design speed of no more than twenty-five miles per hour on a flat surface. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Office: means each principal operational unit within a department, except the executive office of the secretary. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 36:3
• Operator: means every person, other than a chauffeur, who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle upon a highway or who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• parking: means the standing of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, otherwise than temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaged in loading or unloading merchandise or passengers. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Pedestrian: means any person afoot or utilizing a mobility aid. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Private road or driveway: means every way or place in private ownership and used for vehicular travel by the owner and those having express or implied permission from the owner, but not by other persons. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Roadway: means that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular traffic, exclusive of the berm or shoulder. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• roll cage: shall mean supports that will bear the vehicle's weight and are so designed as to protect the occupants when the vehicle is resting on the supports. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Secretary: means the officer appointed by the governor as the executive head and chief administrative officer of certain departments created and provided for by this Title. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 36:3
• Secretary: means the secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development or his delegated or authorized representative. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Shoulder: means the portion of the highway contiguous with the roadway for accommodation of stopped vehicles, for emergency use, pedestrian use, mobility aid use, bicycle use, and for lateral support of base and surface. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Sidewalk: means that portion of a highway between the curb lines, or the lateral lines of a highway, and the adjacent property lines, intended for the use of pedestrians. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• standing: means the halting of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, otherwise than temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaged in receiving or discharging passengers. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highway for purposes of travel. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Vehicle: means every device by which persons or things may be transported upon a public highway or bridge, except devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• Width: means the total outside transverse dimension of a vehicle including any load or load holding devices thereon but excluding approved safety devices and tire bulge due to load. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:1
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.