(a) In addition to any other attachment, any trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer operated on the highways of Tennessee shall be attached to the towing vehicle by a chain, securely attached to both vehicles, and reasonably capable of maintaining the attachment in the event of failure by any other attachment device.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 55-7-114

  • Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
  • 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.
  • Person: means a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation, or an engaged ADS. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Pole trailer: means every vehicle without motive power designed to be driven by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach or pole, or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle, and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads, such as poles, pipes or structural members capable, generally, of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Semitrailer: means every vehicle with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that some part of its weight and that of its load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • 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
  • Trailer: means every vehicle with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle. 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 highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
(b) The responsibility for providing safety chains for trailers rented, leased, or loaned to farmers by persons customarily doing so for the haulage of farm supplies or crops shall be with the person so renting, leasing, or loaning the trailer.
(c) Failure to comply with this section shall subject the offender to a fine of fifty dollars ($50.00) on a first offense, that may be submitted by the offender to the clerk of the court that has jurisdiction of the offense in the county in which the offense charged was alleged to have been committed, in lieu of appearance in court by the offender. On second and subsequent offenses, the fine shall be not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500).
(d)

(1) This section does not apply to farm implements used in tillage, harvesting, or seeding, if the implements were not equipped at the time of manufacture with safety chains, and if the implements are being towed on state or local roads at a speed of less than twenty-five miles per hour (25 mph), except this exemption shall not apply to farm trailers.
(2) This section also does not apply to any motor vehicle with an attached gooseneck type trailer or semitrailer with a fifth wheel.
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