Terms Used In California Codes > Vehicle Code > Division 12 > Chapter 1 - General Provisions

• 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.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• automobile dismantler: includes a person not otherwise expressly excluded by Section 221 who keeps or maintains on real property owned by the person, or under their possession or control, either of the following vehicles or catalytic converters, whether for the purpose of resale of used parts, for the purpose of reclaiming for use some or all of the materials, whether metal, glass, fabric, or otherwise, or to dispose of them, or for any other purpose:

  California Vehicle Code 220

• axle: is a structure or portion of a structure consisting of one or more shafts, spindles, or bearings in the same vertical transverse plane by means of which, in conjunction with wheels mounted on said shafts, spindles, or bearings, a portion of the weight of a vehicle and its load, if any, is continuously transmitted to the roadway when the vehicle is in motion. See California Vehicle Code 230
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• bus: is a ny vehicle, including a trailer bus, designed, used, or maintained for carrying more than 15 persons including the driver. See California Vehicle Code 233
• business: includes a proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and any other form of commercial enterprise. See California Vehicle Code 234
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• classified members: shall mean members who retain membership under this system while employed with a school employer in positions not subject to coverage under the Defined Benefit Program under the State Teachers' Retirement System. See California Government Code 20636.1
• Collector motor vehicle: means a motor vehicle owned by a collector, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 5051, and the motor vehicle is used primarily in shows, parades, charitable functions, and historical exhibitions for display, maintenance, and preservation, and is not used primarily for transportation. See California Vehicle Code 259
• commercial vehicle: is a motor vehicle of a type required to be registered under this code used or maintained for the transportation of persons for hire, compensation, or profit or designed, used, or maintained primarily for the transportation of property. See California Vehicle Code 260
• compensation: means the remuneration paid out of funds controlled by the employer in payment for the member's services performed during normal working hours or for time during which the member is excused from work because of any of the following:

  California Government Code 20630

• converter: is a person, other than a vehicle manufacturer, who, prior to the retail sale of a new vehicle, does any of the following to the vehicle:

  California Vehicle Code 267

• County: includes every county and city and county within this State. See California Vehicle Code 270
• County: includes city and county. See California Food and Agricultural Code 29
• Dealer: is a person not otherwise expressly excluded by Section 286 who:

  California Vehicle Code 285

• Department: means the Department of Motor Vehicles except, when used in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 2100) of Division 2 and in Divisions 11 (commencing with Section 21000), 12 (commencing with Section 24000), 13 (commencing with Section 29000), 14 (commencing with Section 31600), 14. See California Vehicle Code 290
• distributor: is a ny person other than a manufacturer who sells or distributes new vehicles subject to registration under this code, new trailers subject to identification pursuant to Section 5014. See California Vehicle Code 296
• driver: is a person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See California Vehicle Code 305
• electric bicycle: is a bicycle equipped with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of less than 750 watts. See California Vehicle Code 312.5
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• farm labor vehicle: is a ny motor vehicle designed, used, or maintained for the transportation of nine or more farmworkers, in addition to the driver, to or from a place of employment or employment-related activities. See California Vehicle Code 322
• final settlement pay: means pay or cash conversions of employee benefits that are in excess of compensation earnable, that are granted or awarded to a member in connection with, or in anticipation of, a separation from employment. See California Government Code 20636
• garage: is a building or other place wherein the business of storing or safekeeping vehicles of a type required to be registered under this code and which belong to members of the general public is conducted for compensation. See California Vehicle Code 340
• golf cart: is a motor vehicle having not less than three wheels in contact with the ground, having an unladen weight less than 1,300 pounds, which is designed to be and is operated at not more than 15 miles per hour and designed to carry golf equipment and not more than two persons, including the driver. See California Vehicle Code 345
• group or class of employment: means a number of employees considered together because they share similarities in job duties, work location, collective bargaining unit, or other logical work-related grouping. See California Government Code 20636
• Highway: is a way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See California Vehicle Code 360
• Lighting equipment: is a ny of the following lamps or devices:

  California Vehicle Code 375

• motor vehicle: includes a recreational vehicle as that term is defined in subdivision (a) of §. See California Vehicle Code 415
• motor-driven cycle: is a ny motorcycle with a motor that displaces less than 150 cubic centimeters. See California Vehicle Code 405
• motorcycle: is a motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider, designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground. See California Vehicle Code 400
• muffler: is a device consisting of a series of chambers or baffle plates, or other mechanical design, for the purpose of receiving exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine, and effective in reducing noise. See California Vehicle Code 425
• nonrepairable vehicle: is a vehicle of a type otherwise subject to registration that meets the criteria specified in subdivision (a), (b), or (c). See California Vehicle Code 431
• nonrepairable vehicle certificate: is a vehicle ownership document issued to the owner of a nonrepairable vehicle. See California Vehicle Code 432
• owner: is a person having all the incidents of ownership, including the legal title of a vehicle whether or not such person lends, rents, or creates a security interest in the vehicle. See California Vehicle Code 460
• passenger vehicle: is a ny motor vehicle, other than a motortruck, truck tractor, or a bus, as defined in Section 233, and used or maintained for the transportation of persons. See California Vehicle Code 465
• Payrate: means the normal monthly rate of pay or base pay of the member paid in cash to similarly situated members of the same group or class of employment for services rendered on a full-time basis during normal working hours, pursuant to publicly available pay schedules. See California Government Code 20636
• Person: includes a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation. See California Vehicle Code 470
• representative: is a ny person regularly employed by a manufacturer or distributor for the purpose of negotiating or promoting the sale of the manufacturer's or distributer's vehicles to their franchisees or for regularly supervising or contacting franchisees or prospective franchisees in this state for any purpose. See California Vehicle Code 512
• Road: means any existing vehicle route established before January 1, 1979, with significant evidence of prior regular travel by vehicles subject to registration pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 4000) of Chapter 1 of Division 3. See California Vehicle Code 527
• Salvage pool: means a person engaged exclusively in the business of disposing of total loss salvage vehicles, nonrepairable vehicles, or recovered stolen vehicles sent to it by, or on behalf of, insurance companies, authorized adjusters, leasing companies, self-insured persons, or financial institutions. See California Vehicle Code 543
• Salvage vehicle rebuilder: means any person who rebuilds a total loss salvage vehicle, as defined in Section 544, or a vehicle reported for dismantling pursuant to Section 11520, for subsequent resale. See California Vehicle Code 543.5
• Sell: includes offer for sale, expose for sale, possess for sale, exchange, barter, or trade. See California Food and Agricultural Code 44
• Total loss salvage vehicle: means either of the following:

  California Vehicle Code 544

• transferee: is a person who has acquired the sole ownership of or an equity in a vehicle of a type required to be registered under this code. See California Vehicle Code 640
• transit bus: is a ny bus owned or operated by a publicly owned or operated transit system, or operated under contract with a publicly owned or operated transit system, and used to provide to the general public, regularly scheduled transportation for which a fare is charged. See California Vehicle Code 642
• truck tractor: is a motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry a load, other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and the load so drawn. See California Vehicle Code 655
• used vehicle: is a vehicle that has been sold, or has been registered with the department, or has been sold and operated upon the highways, or has been registered with the appropriate agency of authority, of any other state, District of Columbia, territory or possession of the United States or foreign state, province or country, or unregistered vehicles regularly used or operated as demonstrators in the sales work of a dealer or unregistered vehicles regularly used or operated by a manufacturer in the sales or distribution work of such manufacturer. See California Vehicle Code 665
• vehicle: is a device by which any person or property may be propelled, moved, or drawn upon a highway, excepting a device moved exclusively by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See California Vehicle Code 670