(a)  “Bailee” means a bailee is one to whom possession of personal property has been entrusted by the bailor for a specific purpose resulting from either an express or implied contract, with the understanding that this personal property shall be returned to the bailor or any person designated by the bailor when the terms and purposes of the contract have been accomplished.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 31-1-17

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • 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.
  • 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
  • Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
  • Motor vehicle: means any vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power for use on the public streets, roads, and highways;

    (2)  "Odometer" means an instrument for measuring and recording the actual distance a motor vehicle travels while in operation;

    (3)  "Person" means any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or business trust including, but not limited to, private individuals and motor vehicle dealers, both wholesale and retail, whether the private individual or dealer is a dealer in the ordinary course of business or not;

    (4)  "Repair and replacement" means to restore to a sound working condition by replacing the instrument or any part thereof or by correcting what is inoperative;

    (5)  "Transfer" means to acquire ownership by purchase, gift, bequest, or any other means. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-23.2-2

  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.

(b)  “Chauffeur” means any person who drives a jitney, bus, school bus, motor vehicle used principally for hire with operator, or trackless trolley coach, regardless of the vehicle’s capacity, and any person who drives a truck, tractor, or tractor semi-trailer, if the gross vehicle weight is twenty-six thousand and one pounds (26,001 lbs.) or more. Proper officers and drivers of fire apparatus when in the performance of their duties are not deemed to be chauffeurs.

(c)  “Driver” means any operator or chauffeur who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle.

(d)  “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.

(e)  “Owner” means a person who holds the legal title to a vehicle. In the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for conditional sale or lease with right of purchase upon performance of stated conditions and immediate right of possession vested in the vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee, lessee, or mortgagor is deemed the owner for the purposes of chapters 1 — 27 of this title.

(f)  “Pedestrian” means any person afoot.

(g)  “Person” means every individual, firm, partnership, corporation, or association.

(h)  “Skateboarder, rollerskater, inline skater, or scooter rider” means any person who utilizes a human-powered device containing any number of wheels, whether in tandem or inline, which enables the person to propel himself or herself in a given direction.

History of Section.
P.L. 1950, ch. 2595, art. 1, § 16; P.L. 1951, ch. 2826, § 4; G.L. 1956, § 31-1-17; P.L. 1984, ch. 295, § 1; P.L. 1994, ch. 417, § 1; P.L. 2001, ch. 202, § 1.