Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Office of the Revisor of Statutes

Chapter 171

Section 171.01

Topics

Recent History

171.01 DEFINITIONS.
    Subdivision 1. Scope. Unless the language or context clearly indicates that a different
meaning is intended, the following words, terms, and phrases, for the purposes of this chapter,
shall be given the meanings subjoined to them.
    Subd. 2.[Renumbered subd 50]
    Subd. 3.[Renumbered subd 39]
    Subd. 4.[Renumbered subd 32]
    Subd. 5.[Renumbered subd 45]
    Subd. 6.[Renumbered subd 31]
    Subd. 7.[Repealed, 1971 c 644 s 17]
    Subd. 8.[Renumbered subd 43]
    Subd. 9.[Renumbered subd 42]
    Subd. 10.[Renumbered subd 48]
    Subd. 11.[Renumbered subd 28]
    Subd. 12.[Renumbered subd 30]
    Subd. 13.[Renumbered subd 29]
    Subd. 14.[Renumbered subd 37]
    Subd. 15.[Renumbered subd 47]
    Subd. 16.[Renumbered subd 34]
    Subd. 17.[Renumbered subd 40]
    Subd. 18.(a) (b) [Renumbered subd 49]
(c) [Renumbered subd 38]
    Subd. 19. Bus. "Bus" means every motor vehicle designed for carrying more than 15
passengers, including the driver, and used for the transportation of persons.
    Subd. 20.[Renumbered subd 41]
    Subd. 21.[Renumbered subd 46]
    Subd. 22. Commercial motor vehicle. "Commercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle
or combination of motor vehicles used to transport passengers or property if the motor vehicle:
(1) has a gross vehicle weight of more than 26,000 pounds;
(2) has a towed unit with a gross vehicle weight of more than 10,000 pounds and the
combination of vehicles has a combined gross vehicle weight of more than 26,000 pounds;
(3) is a bus;
(4) is of any size and is used in the transportation of hazardous materials that are required to
be placarded under Code of Federal Regulations, title 49, parts 100-185; or
(5) is outwardly equipped and identified as a school bus, except for type III school buses
defined in section 169.01, subdivision 6, clause (5).
    Subd. 23.[Renumbered subd 44]
    Subd. 24.[Repealed, 1993 c 142 s 4]
    Subd. 25.[Renumbered subd 33]
    Subd. 26.[Renumbered subd 35]
    Subd. 27.[Renumbered subd 36]
    Subd. 28. Commissioner. The commissioner of public safety of the state of Minnesota,
acting directly or through duly authorized agents.
    Subd. 29. Conviction. The term "conviction" means a final conviction either after trial or
upon a plea of guilty. Also, a forfeiture of cash or collateral deposited to guarantee a defendant's
appearance in court, which forfeiture has not been vacated; the failure to comply with a written
notice to appear in court; or a breach of a condition of release without bail, is equivalent to a
conviction.
    Subd. 30. Department. The Department of Public Safety of the state, acting directly or
through its duly authorized officers and agents.
    Subd. 31. Driver. Every person, who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle.
    Subd. 32. Farm tractor. Every motor vehicle designed and used primarily as a farm
implement for drawing plows, mowing machines and other implements of husbandry.
    Subd. 33. Farm truck. For purposes of this chapter only, "farm truck" means a single-unit
truck, including a pickup truck as defined in section 168.011; truck-tractor; tractor; semitrailer; or
trailer, used by its owner:
(1) to transport from the farm to the market agricultural, horticultural, dairy, or other farm
products, including livestock, produced or finished by the owner of the farm truck;
(2) to transport the owner's other personal property from the farm to market; or
(3) to transport property and supplies to the farm of the owner.
    Subd. 34. Gross vehicle weight. "Gross vehicle weight" means the greater of:
(1) the unloaded weight of a vehicle or the unloaded weight of a truck-tractor and semitrailer
combination, plus the weight of the load; or
(2) the value specified by the manufacturer as the maximum gross weight or gross vehicle
weight rating.
    Subd. 35. Hazardous materials. "Hazardous materials" means those materials found to be
hazardous for the purposes of the federal Hazardous Materials Transportation Act and that require
the motor vehicle to be placarded under Code of Federal Regulations, title 49, parts 100-185.
    Subd. 36. Head Start bus. "Head Start bus" means a motor vehicle used to transport children
or parents to or from a Head Start facility, or to or from Head Start-related activities, by the Head
Start grantee, or by someone under an agreement with the Head Start grantee. A Head Start bus
does not include a motor vehicle transporting children or parents to or from a Head Start facility
for which parents or guardians receive direct compensation from a Head Start grantee, a motor
coach operating under charter carrier authority, or a transit bus providing services as defined in
section 174.22, subdivision 7.
    Subd. 37. License. "License" means any operator's license or any other license or permit
to operate a motor vehicle issued or issuable under the laws of this state by the commissioner
of public safety including:
(1) any temporary license, instruction permit, or provisional license;
(2) the privilege of any person to drive a motor vehicle whether or not the person holds
a valid license; and
(3) any nonresident's operating privilege.
    Subd. 38. Manufactured home. "Manufactured home" means any trailer or semitrailer
which is designed, constructed, and equipped for use as a human dwelling place, living abode, or
living quarters except travel trailers.
    Subd. 39. Motor vehicle. Every vehicle that is self-propelled, other than an electric personal
assistive mobility device as defined in section 169.01, subdivision 90, and any vehicle propelled
or drawn by a self-propelled vehicle, and not deriving its power from overhead wires except
snowmobiles.
    Subd. 40. Motorcycle. "Motorcycle" means every motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for
the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the
ground, including motor scooters and bicycles with motor attached, but excluding tractors and
motorized bicycles.
    Subd. 41. Motorized bicycle. "Motorized bicycle" means a bicycle that is propelled by an
electric or a liquid fuel motor of a piston displacement capacity of 50 cubic centimeters or less,
and a maximum of two brake horsepower, which is capable of a maximum speed of not more
than 30 miles per hour on a flat surface with not more than one percent grade in any direction
when the motor is engaged. "Motorized bicycle" includes an electric-assisted bicycle as defined
in section 169.01, subdivision 4b.
    Subd. 42. Nonresident. Every person who is not a resident of this state.
    Subd. 43. Owner. Any person, firm, copartnership, association, or corporation who holds the
legal title to 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 such conditional vendee or
lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purposes of this chapter.
    Subd. 44. Passenger endorsement. "Passenger endorsement" means the driver's license
endorsement required of a person who operates a vehicle designed to transport more than 15
passengers, including the driver.
    Subd. 45. Person. Every natural person, firm, copartnership, association, or corporation.
    Subd. 46. School bus. "School bus" means a motor vehicle used to transport pupils to or
from a school defined in section 120A.22, or to or from school-related activities, by the school or
a school district or by someone under an agreement with the school or a school district. A school
bus does not include a motor vehicle transporting children to or from school for which parents
or guardians receive direct compensation from a school district, a motor coach operating under
charter carrier authority, a transit bus providing services as defined in section 174.22, subdivision
7
, or a vehicle otherwise qualifying as a type III vehicle under section 169.01, subdivision
6
, paragraph (5), when the vehicle is properly registered and insured and being driven by an
employee or agent of a school district for nonscheduled transportation.
    Subd. 47. State. "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to
the jurisdiction of the United States.
    Subd. 48. Street or highway. The entire width between property lines of every way or
place of whatever nature when any part thereof is open to the use of the public, as a matter of
right, for purpose of vehicular traffic.
    Subd. 48a. Tank vehicle. "Tank vehicle" means any commercial motor vehicle that is
designed to transport any liquid or gaseous materials within a tank, as defined in Code of Federal
Regulations, title 49, section 178.320, including a cargo tank or a portable tank as defined in Code
of Federal Regulations, title 49, section 171.8, that is either permanently or temporarily attached
to the vehicle or the chassis, except portable tanks having a rated capacity under 1,000 gallons.
    Subd. 49. Travel trailer. (a) "Travel trailer" means any trailer or semitrailer designed and
used for human living quarters that meets all of the following qualifications:
(1) is not used as the residence of the owner or occupant;
(2) is used for temporary living quarters by the owner or occupant while engaged in
recreational or vacation activities; and
(3) is towed on the public streets or highways incidental to such recreational or vacation
activities.
(b) The term "travel trailer" shall not include bunkhouses, so called, temporarily mounted on
trailers, and manufactured homes. Such bunkhouses, exclusive of the trailer and manufactured
homes, shall be listed and taxed as personal property as provided by law.
    Subd. 50. Vehicle. Every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be
transported or drawn upon any highway, excepting devices moved by human power or used
exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
History: (2720-142, 2720-145a) 1939 c 401 s 1,16, par (c); 1965 c 51 s 24-35; 1967 c 385 s
1; 1969 c 695 s 12; 1969 c 1129 art 1 s 18; 1971 c 644 s 2,3; 1973 c 421 s 3; 1975 c 29 s 6; 1977
c 214 s 10,11; 1978 c 570 s 3; 1978 c 783 s 5; 1981 c 365 s 9; 1984 c 403 s 7; 1986 c 444; 1987 c
269 s 6; 1988 c 681 s 14; 1989 c 209 art 2 s 1; 1989 c 228 s 2; 1989 c 307 s 14-16; 1989 c 342 s
20; 1990 c 529 s 3,4; 1991 c 298 art 7 s 1; 1991 c 333 s 21-23; 1993 c 78 s 3; 1994 c 465 art 3 s
62; 1994 c 603 s 16; 1994 c 647 art 13 s 17; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 2 s 40; 1996 c 435 s 17; 1998 c 388
s 7; 1998 c 397 art 11 s 3; 2002 c 285 s 5; 2005 c 135 s 7; 1Sp2005 c 6 art 3 s 55-58

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes