Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 30 > Chapter 3 > Part 1 - Uniform Law

• Administrator: means the federal motor carrier safety administrator, the chief executive of the federal motor carrier safety administration, an agency within the United States department of transportation. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appropriate helmet: means , except as provided in subdivisions (a)(1)(A)-(C), a helmet that meets federal motor vehicle safety standards as specified in 49 C. See Tennessee Code 55-52-201
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Bicycle: means every device propelled by human power upon which any person may ride, having two (2) tandem wheels, either of which is more than twenty inches (20") in diameter. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Bicycle: means a human-powered vehicle with two (2) wheels in tandem designed to transport, by the action of pedaling, one (1) or more persons seated on one (1) or more saddle seats on its frame. See Tennessee Code 55-52-103
• bond: means any cash or other security deposited to secure an appearance for trial, following a citation by an arresting officer for violation of a traffic law, ordinance, rules or regulation. See Tennessee Code 55-50-701
• Chauffeur: means every person who is employed for the principal purpose of operating a motor vehicle and every person who drives a motor vehicle while in use as a public or common carrier of persons or property. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• Chief instructor: means a licensed motorcycle operator who meets the standards established by the department to qualify to train and oversee instructors for the motorcycle rider education program. See Tennessee Code 55-51-101
• Citation: means any citation, summons, ticket, or other document issued by an arresting officer for violation of a traffic law, ordinance, rule, or regulation, ordering the arrested motorist to appear in court or before a magistrate. See Tennessee Code 55-50-701
• Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of safety. See Tennessee Code 55-50-701
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of safety. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Conviction: means an unvacated adjudication of guilt, or a determination that a person has violated or failed to comply with the law in a court of original jurisdiction or by an authorized administrative tribunal, an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the person's appearance in court, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere accepted by the court, the payment of a fine or court cost, or violation of a condition of release without bail, regardless of whether or not the penalty is rebated, suspended or probated. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Department: means the department of safety. See Tennessee Code 55-51-101
• Department: means department of safety. See Tennessee Code 55-50-701
• Director: means the commissioner of safety. See Tennessee Code 55-51-101
• Driver: means :
  (A) For purposes of a conventionally operated vehicle, every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Driver: means every person 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 Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• Driver license: means a license issued by the department to an individual that authorizes the individual to operate a motor vehicle on the highways. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• EPAMD: means a self-balancing, two (2) nontandem wheeled device, designed to transport only one (1) person, with an electric propulsion system with average power of seven hundred fifty (750) watts or one horse power (1 hp. See Tennessee Code 55-53-101
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• 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.
• Felony: means any offense under state or federal law that is punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one (1) year. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• 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.
• Highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way when any part thereto is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
• 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.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• License: means any operator's or chauffeur's permit or any other license or permit to operate a motor vehicle issued under the laws of a reciprocating state including:
  (A) Any temporary or learner's permit. See Tennessee Code 55-50-701
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Motor vehicle: means a vehicle, low speed vehicle or medium speed vehicle as defined in this section, machine, tractor, trailer or semitrailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power used on highways or any other vehicle required to be registered under the laws of this state, but does not include any vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer or semitrailer operated exclusively on a rail. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• Motorcycle rider education program: means the motorcycle training and information disbursement plan created in §. See Tennessee Code 55-51-101
• Motorcycle rider safety fund: means the restricted receipts account created in §. See Tennessee Code 55-51-101
• Nonresident: means every person who is not a resident of the state. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• Off-highway motor vehicle: means a vehicle as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 55-52-201
• Operator: means :
  (A) For purposes of a conventionally operated vehicle, 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 Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Operator: means a person who travels on a bicycle seated on a saddle seat from which that person is intended to and can pedal the bicycle. See Tennessee Code 55-52-103
• 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 Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• Owner: means 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 the conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this chapter and chapter 10, parts 1-5 of this title. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Passenger: means any person who travels on a bicycle in any manner except as an operator. See Tennessee Code 55-52-103
• Pedestrian: means any person afoot or using a motorized or non-motorized wheelchair. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Person: means a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation, or an engaged ADS. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Person: means every natural person, firm, copartnership, association or corporation. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• Personal recognizance: means a signed agreement by an arrested motorist that the motorist will comply with the terms of the citation served upon the motorist at the time of arrest. See Tennessee Code 55-50-701
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probate court: means the court having jurisdiction over the administration of the estates of decedents. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Program coordinator: means the person designated by the director to plan, organize, and administer the motorcycle rider education program as provided in §. See Tennessee Code 55-51-101
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Protective bicycle helmet: means a piece of headgear that meets or exceeds the impact standards for protective bicycle helmets set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or the Snell Memorial Foundation, or that is otherwise approved by the commissioner of safety. See Tennessee Code 55-52-103
• Public bicycle path: means a right-of-way under the jurisdiction and control of the state or a local political subdivision thereof for use primarily by bicycles and pedestrians. See Tennessee Code 55-52-103
• Reciprocating state: means any state that extends by its laws or by written agreement with this state to residents of this state substantially the rights and privileges provided by this part. See Tennessee Code 55-50-701
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Relative: means a person or persons in the lineal line of consanguinity to a property owner, a spouse, or person or persons in the lineal line of consanguinity of a spouse, and includes an individual in an adoptive relationship to a property owner or the spouse of the property owner. See Tennessee Code 55-52-201
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Resident: means every person that lives in this state for a period of time exceeding thirty (30) days, has taken employment, or who would qualify as a registered voter, or has taken action to establish Tennessee as principal place of domicile. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• Restraining seat: means a seat separate from the saddle seat of the operator of the bicycle that is fastened securely to the frame of the bicycle and is adequately equipped to restrain the passenger in the seat and protect the passenger from the moving parts of the bicycle. See Tennessee Code 55-52-103
• Rider training course: means a motorcycle rider education curriculum and delivery system approved by the department as meeting standards designed to develop and instill the knowledge, attitudes, habits, and skills necessary for the safe operation of a motorcycle. See Tennessee Code 55-51-101
• Right-of-way: means the privilege of the immediate use of the roadway. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Roadway: means that portion of a highway improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the berm or shoulder. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Sidewalk: means that portion of a street between the curb lines, or the lateral lines of a roadway, and the adjacent property lines, intended for use of pedestrians. See Tennessee Code 55-52-103
• signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• State: means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 55-50-701
• State: means :
  (A) For the purposes of commercial driver licenses, a state of the United States and the District of Columbia. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• street: means the entire width between boundary lines of every way publicly maintained, when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Tennessee Code 55-52-103
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highway for purposes of travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Training specialist: means the person designated by the director to fulfill the obligations stated in §. See Tennessee Code 55-51-101
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Tricycle: means a three-wheeled human-powered vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-52-103
• United States: means the fifty (50) states and the District of Columbia. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• Vehicle: means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
• Vehicle: means every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• Violation: means a conviction except as otherwise provided in §. See Tennessee Code 55-50-102
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105