The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

1. (1) Affidavit for alias exempt registration--A form prescribed by the director that must be executed by an exempt law enforcement agency to request the issuance of exempt registration in the name of an alias.
2. (2) Agent--A duly authorized representative possessing legal capacity to act for an individual or legal entity.
3. (3) Alias--The name of a vehicle registrant reflected on the registration, different than the name of the legal owner of the vehicle.
4. (4) Alias exempt registration--Registration issued under an alias to a specific vehicle to be used in covert criminal investigations by a law enforcement agency.
5. (5) Apportioned license plate--A license plate issued in lieu of a truck license plate or combination license plate to a motor carrier in this state who proportionally registers a vehicle owned by the carrier in one or more other states.
6. (6) Axle load--The total load transmitted to the road by all wheels whose centers may be included between two parallel transverse vertical planes 40 inches apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle.
7. (7) Border commercial zone--A commercial zone established under Title 49, C.F.R., Part 372 that is contiguous to the border with Mexico.
8. (8) Carrying capacity--The maximum safe load that a commercial vehicle may carry, in tons, as determined by the manufacturer.
9. (9) Character--A numeric or alpha symbol displayed on a license plate.

10. (10) "Construction machinery" means a vehicle that:

    1. (A) is used for construction;
    2. (B) is built from the ground up;
    3. (C) is not mounted or affixed to another vehicle such as a trailer;
    4. (D) was originally and permanently designed as machinery;
    5. (E) was not in any way originally designed to transport persons or property; and
    6. (F) does not carry a load, including fuel.
11. (11) Combination license plate--A license plate issued for a truck or truck tractor that has a manufacturer's rated carrying capacity of more than one ton and is used or intended to be used in combination with a semitrailer that has a gross weight of more than 6,000 pounds.
12. (12) Commercial vehicle--Any vehicle (other than a motorcycle or passenger car) designed or used primarily for the transportation of property, including any passenger car that has been reconstructed so as to be used, and that is being used, primarily for delivery purposes, with the exception of passenger cars used in the delivery of the United States mail.
13. (13) Conventional vehicle--A regular truck or regular trailer that is eligible only for regular registration and that is primarily designed to transport divisible loads, regardless of the vehicle's present use. Vehicles that have been altered or reconstructed, or on which machinery has been mounted or attached, permanently or otherwise, retain their conventional status.
14. (14) Cotton vehicle--A vehicle that is used only to transport chili pepper modules, seed cotton, cotton, cotton burrs, or equipment used in transporting or processing chili peppers or cotton that is not more than 10 feet in width.
15. (15) County or city civil defense agency--An agency authorized by a commissioner's court order or by a city ordinance to provide protective measures and emergency relief activities in the event of hostile attack, sabotage, or natural disaster.
16. (16) Department--The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.
17. (17) Director--The director of the Vehicle Titles and Registration Division, Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.
18. (18) Disabled person--A person who has mobility problems that substantially impair the person's ability to ambulate or who is legally blind.
19. (19) Electric bicycle--A device that has two tandem wheels and is designed to be propelled by an electric motor. An electric bicycle cannot attain a speed of more than 20 miles per hour without the application of human power and weighs 100 pounds or less.
20. (20) Escrow account--A deposit of a specific amount of money held by the department for security.

21. (21) Evidence of financial responsibility--The original document or photocopy of any one of the following items:

    1. (A) a liability insurance policy or liability self-insurance or pool coverage document issued in at least the minimum amount required by law;
    2. (B) a personal automobile insurance policy used as evidence of financial responsibility, written for at least the term required by the Insurance Code, §1952.054;
    3. (C) a standard proof of liability form issued by a liability insurer;
    4. (D) an insurance binder that confirms that the owner is in compliance with the law;
    5. (E) a certificate issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety that shows the vehicle is covered by self-insurance;
    6. (F) a certificate issued by the state treasurer that shows that the owner has money or securities in an amount not less than $55,000 on deposit with the state treasurer;
    7. (G) a certificate issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety that shows that the vehicle has a bond on file with that department, that the bond is in the form and amount required by law, and that the bond is guaranteed by at least two individual sureties each owning real estate within this state;
    8. (H) a certificate issued by the county judge in the county where the owner resides showing that the owner has cash or a cashier's check in an amount not less than $55,000 on deposit with the county judge.
22. (22) Executive administrator--The director of a federal agency, the director of a Texas state agency, the sheriff of a Texas county, or the chief of police of a Texas city that by law possesses the authority to conduct covert criminal investigations.
23. (23) Exempt agency--A governmental body exempted by statute from paying registration fees when registering motor vehicles.
24. (24) Exempt license plates--Specially designated license plates issued to certain vehicles owned or controlled by exempt agencies.

25. (25) Exhibition vehicle--

    1. (A) An assembled complete passenger car, truck, or motorcycle that:

       1. (i) is a collector's item;
       2. (ii) is used exclusively for exhibitions, club activities, parades, and other functions of public interest;
       3. (iii) does not carry advertising; and
       4. (iv) has a frame, body, and motor that is at least 25 years old; or
    2. (B) A former military vehicle as defined in Transportation Code, §504.502.
26. (26) Fire fighting equipment--Equipment mounted on fire fighting vehicles used in the process of fighting fires, including, but not limited to, ladders and hoses.
27. (27) Foreign commercial motor vehicle--A commercial motor vehicle, as defined by 49 C.F.R. §390.5, that is owned by a person or entity that is domiciled in or a citizen of a country other than the United States.
28. (28) Gross weight--The sum of the empty weight of a commercial vehicle (or vehicles, if operated in combination), combined with its maximum carrying capacity, rounded up to the next 100 pounds.
29. (29) Highway construction project--That section of the highway between the warning signs giving notice of a construction area.
30. (30) International symbol of access--The symbol adopted by Rehabilitation International in 1969 at its Eleventh World Congress of Rehabilitation of the Disabled.
31. (31) Legally blind--Having not more than 20/200 visual acuity in the better eye with correcting lenses, or visual acuity greater than 20/200 but with a limitation in the field of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees.
32. (32) Light truck--As defined in Transportation Code, §541.201, any truck with a manufacturer's rated carrying capacity not to exceed two thousand pounds, including those trucks commonly known as pickup trucks, panel delivery trucks, and carryall trucks.
33. (33) Make--The trade name of the vehicle manufacturer.
34. (34) Motor bus--A motor-propelled vehicle used to transport persons on public highways for compensation, other than a street or suburban bus.

35. (35) Motorized mobility device--A device designed for transportation of persons with physical disabilities that:

    1. (A) has three or more wheels;
    2. (B) is propelled by a battery-powered motor;
    3. (C) has not more than one forward gear; and
    4. (D) is not capable of speeds exceeding eight miles per hour.
36. (36) Net carrying capacity--150 pounds multiplied by the seating capacity as determined by the manufacturer's rated seating capacity, exclusive of the driver's or operator's seat, or in the case of a vehicle that is not rated by the manufacturer, as determined by an allowance of one passenger for each sixteen inches, exclusive of the driver's or operator's seat.
37. (37) Nonprofit organization--An unincorporated association or society or a corporation that is incorporated or holds a certificate of authority under the Business Organizations Code.
38. (38) Owner--A person who holds the legal title to a vehicle, has the legal right to possess a vehicle, or has the legal right to control a vehicle.
39. (39) Passenger car--In accordance with Transportation Code, §502.001, any motor vehicle other than a motorcycle, golf cart, or a bus, designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons.
40. (40) Political subdivision--A county, municipality, local board, or other body of this state having authority to provide a public service.
41. (41) Registration period--A designated period during which registration is valid. A registration period always begins on the first day of a calendar month and ends on the last day of a calendar month.
42. (42) Rental fleet--A fleet of five or more vehicles that are owned by the same owner, offered for rent or rented without drivers, and designated by the owner in the manner prescribed by the department as a rental fleet.
43. (43) Rental trailer--A utility trailer that has a gross weight of 4,000 pounds or less and is part of a rental fleet.

44. (44) Road tractor--A vehicle designed for the purpose of mowing the right of way of a public highway or a motor vehicle designed or used for drawing another vehicle or a load and not constructed to carry:

    1. (A) an independent load; or
    2. (B) a part of the weight of the vehicle and load to be drawn.
45. (45) Service agreement--A contractual agreement that allows individuals or businesses to access the department's vehicle registration records.
46. (46) Specialty license plate--A special design license plate issued by the department under statutory authority.
47. (47) Specialty license plate fee--Statutorily or department required fee payable on submission of an application for a specialty license plate, symbol, tab, or other device, and collected in addition to statutory motor vehicle registration fees.
48. (48) Sponsoring entity--An institution, college, university, sports team, or any other non-profit individual or group that desires to support a particular specialty license plate by coordinating the collection and submission of the prescribed applications and associated license plate fees or deposits for that particular license plate.
49. (49) Street or suburban bus--A vehicle, other than a passenger car, used to transport persons for compensation exclusively within the limits of a municipality or a suburban addition to a municipality.
50. (50) Tandem axle group--Two or more axles spaced 40 inches or more apart from center to center having at least one common point of weight suspension.

51. (51) Token trailer--

    1. (A) A semitrailer that has a gross weight of more than 6,000 pounds and is operated in combination with a truck; or
    2. (B) a truck tractor that has been issued an apportioned license plate, a combination license plate, or a forestry vehicle license plate.
52. (52) Tow truck--A motor vehicle equipped with a mechanical device adapted or used to tow, winch, or otherwise move another motor vehicle.
53. (53) Travel trailer--A house trailer-type vehicle or a camper trailer that is less than eight feet in width or 40 feet in length, exclusive of any hitch installed on the vehicle, and is designed primarily for use as temporary living quarters in connection with recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use and not as a permanent dwelling.
54. (54) Unconventional vehicle--A vehicle built entirely as machinery from the ground up, that is permanently designed to perform a specific function, and is not designed to transport property.
55. (55) Vehicle--A device in or by which a person or property is or may be transported or drawn on a public highway, other than a device used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks.
56. (56) Vehicle classification--The grouping of vehicles in categories for the purpose of registration, based on design, carrying capacity, or use.
57. (57) Vehicle description--Information regarding a specific vehicle, including, but not limited to, the vehicle make, model year, body style, and vehicle identification number.
58. (58) Vehicle identification number--A number assigned by the manufacturer of a motor vehicle or the department that describes the motor vehicle for purposes of identification.
59. (59) Vehicle inspection sticker--A sticker issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety signifying that a vehicle has passed all applicable safety and emissions tests.
60. (60) Vehicle registration insignia--A license plate, symbol, tab, or other device issued by the department evidencing that all applicable fees have been paid for the current registration period and allowing the vehicle to be operated on the public highways.
61. (61) Vehicle registration record--Information contained in the department's files that reflects, but is not limited to, the make, vehicle identification number, model year, body style, license number, and the name of the registered owner.
62. (62) Volunteer fire department--An association that is organized for the purpose of answering fire alarms, extinguishing fires, and providing emergency medical services.

Source Note:The provisions of this §217.21 adopted to be effective March 4, 2010, 35 TexReg 1761.