(a)  No person shall sell at retail, drive, or move on any highway any motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer or any combination of them unless the equipment upon the vehicle is in good working order and adjustment as required in this title, and the vehicle is in such safe mechanical condition as not to endanger the driver or other occupant or any person upon the highway.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 31-38-1

  • 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

  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6

(b)  No dealer of used vehicles, as defined by § 31-1-19(b), shall sell at retail a used motor vehicle unless a new inspection of the vehicle conforming to the standards set pursuant to this chapter and chapter 47.1 of this title has been conducted and the vehicle has a new certificate of inspection affixed to the windshield at the time of sale, except used cars sold “for parts only” and clearly identified accordingly on the bill of sale.

History of Section.
P.L. 1977, ch. 14, § 2; P.L. 1984, ch. 71, § 1; P.L. 1987, ch. 222, § 2; P.L. 1987, ch. 341, § 1; P.L. 1989, ch. 542, § 96; P.L. 1990, ch. 239, § 1; P.L. 1998, ch. 327, § 2.