2011 Wyoming Statutes
TITLE 31 - MOTOR VEHICLES
CHAPTER 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS
31-1-101. Definitions.

(a) Except as otherwise provided, as used in this act:

(i) "Commercial vehicle" means any vehicle or vehicle combination used, designed or maintained for transportation of persons for hire, compensation or profit, or designed or used primarily for the transportation of property for gain or profit and shall include, but not be limited to:

(A) A power unit having two (2) axles and a gross vehicle weight or registered gross vehicle weight exceeding twenty-six thousand (26,000) pounds;

(B) A power unit having three (3) or more axles regardless of weight; or

(C) Is used in combination when the weight of such combination exceeds twenty-six thousand (26,000) pounds of gross vehicle weight.

(ii) Repealed by Laws 1991, ch. 241, 4.

(iii) "Dealer" means a person regularly engaged in the business of having in his possession vehicles for sale or trade, or for use and operation for purposes pursuant to the business;

(iv) "Department" means the department of transportation;

(v) "Factory price" means the manufacturer's suggested retail price of the make, model and trim level of a vehicle, when new, but excludes federal excise taxes, the cost of transportation from the place of manufacture to the place of sale to the first user. The factory price shall be determined from any current, nationally recognized price guide;

(vi) "Fleet" means one (1) or more commercial vehicles each of which actually travels a portion of its total miles in Wyoming as designated by the department;

(vii) "Gross vehicle weight" means the total weight of a vehicle or vehicle combination including the unladen weight of the vehicle or vehicle combination plus the maximum legal declared weight of the load to be carried in or on the vehicle or vehicle combination;

(viii) "Highway" means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained or if not publicly maintained, dedicated to public use when any part is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel;

(ix) "Identifying number" means the vehicle identification numbers and letters if any assigned by the manufacturer or by the department for the purpose of identifying a vehicle. The term shall include any numbers or letters assigned by the manufacturer for the purpose of identifying a part of a vehicle and any number placed on a part in accordance with this act or regulations of the commission for the purpose of identifying it;

(x) "Implement of husbandry" means sheep wagons, portable livestock loading chutes and every vehicle designed and used exclusively for agricultural operations and only incidentally operated or moved upon the highways but includes any trailer only when being towed by a farm tractor;

(xi) "Interstate" means the transportation of persons or property between Wyoming and any other jurisdiction;

(xii) "Intrastate" means the transportation of persons or property between points within Wyoming;

(xiii) "Jurisdiction" means the states, districts, territories or possessions of the United States, a foreign country and a state or province of a foreign country;

(xiv) "Legal owner" means all persons in whose name a valid certificate of title has been issued;

(xv) "Motor vehicle" means every vehicle which is self-propelled except vehicles moved solely by human power or motorized skateboards. The term includes the following vehicles as hereafter defined:

(A) "Antique" means any motor vehicle which is at least twenty-five (25) years old and owned solely as a collectors item;

(B) "Bus" means a motor vehicle designed to carry more than ten (10) passengers and primarily used to transport persons for compensation;

(C) "Moped" means a vehicle equipped with two (2) or three (3) wheels, foot pedals to permit muscular propulsion by human power, an automatic transmission and a motor with cylinder capacity not exceeding fifty (50) cubic centimeters producing no more than two (2) brake horsepower, which motor is capable of propelling the vehicle at a maximum speed of no more than thirty (30) miles per hour on a level road surface;

(D) "Motor home" means a motor vehicle designed, constructed and equipped as a dwelling place, living abode or sleeping place either permanently or temporarily, but excluding a motor vehicle carrying a camper;

(E) "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 (3) wheels in contact with the ground but which may have attached thereto a sidecar for the purpose of transporting a single passenger. For the purpose of registration and titling "motorcycle" includes motorized bicycles and scooters, but excludes mopeds, motorized skateboards, multipurpose vehicles and off-road recreational vehicles as defined in subparagraph (K) of this paragraph;

(I) Repealed by Laws 2007, Ch. 34, 2.

(II) Repealed by Laws 2007, Ch. 34, 2.

(F) "Passenger car" means a motor vehicle designed to carry ten (10) persons or less and primarily used to transport persons, including ambulances and hearses but excluding motorcycles, motor homes, multipurpose vehicles, trucks and school buses;

(G) "Pedestrian vehicle" means any self-propelled conveyance designed, manufactured and intended for the exclusive use of persons with a physical disability, but in no case shall a pedestrian vehicle:

(I) Exceed forty-eight (48) inches in width.

(II) and (III) Repealed by Laws 1989, ch. 155, 2.

(H) "School bus" means a motor vehicle that is owned by, leased to or registered to a public school district, a private school or a carrier under contract to a public or private school and is used to transport children to or from school or in connection with school activities and is designed for and capable of carrying twelve (12) or more passengers, but not including buses operated by common carriers in transportation of school children;

(J) "Truck" means a motor vehicle designed, used or maintained for the transportation of property, including pickup trucks but excluding multipurpose vehicles and passenger cars;

(K) "Off-road recreational vehicle" means:

(I) A recreational vehicle primarily designed for off-road use which is fifty (50) inches or less in width and has an unladen weight of one thousand one hundred (1,100) pounds or less;

(II) Any unlicensed motorcycle which has an unladen weight of six hundred (600) pounds or less and is designed to be ridden off road with the operator astride upon a seat or saddle and travels on two (2) tires; and

(III) Any multi-wheeled motorized vehicle not required by law to be licensed and is designed for cross-country travel on or over land, sand, snow, ice or other natural terrain and which has an unladen weight of more than nine hundred (900) pounds.

(M) "Multipurpose vehicle" means a motor vehicle that is designed to travel on at least four (4) wheels in contact with the ground, has an unladen weight of at least three hundred (300) pounds but less than three thousand (3,000) pounds, has a permanent upright seat or saddle for the driver which is mounted at least twenty-four (24) inches from the ground and has an identifying number. "Multipurpose vehicle" includes off-road recreational vehicles, electric powered vehicles, golf carts when being used other than as provided in W.S. 31-5-102(a)(lxi)(E) and any motor vehicle meeting the criteria of this subparagraph and not otherwise defined in this section;

(N) "Street rod" means a motor vehicle that:

(I) Is a 1948 or older vehicle, or the vehicle was manufactured after 1948 to resemble a vehicle manufactured before 1949; and

(II) Has been altered from the manufacturer's original design, or has a body constructed from nonoriginal materials.

(O) "Custom vehicle" means any motor vehicle that:

(I) Is at least twenty-five (25) years old and of a model year after 1948, or was manufactured to resemble a vehicle at least twenty-five (25) years old and of a model year after 1948; and

(II) Has been altered from the manufacturer's original design, or has a body constructed from nonoriginal materials.

(P) "Pickup truck" means any motor vehicle, excluding multipurpose vehicles and passenger cars, designed, used or maintained for the transportation of property with an attached open cargo box directly behind the passenger compartment and designed to be equipped with a tailgate which can be lowered or opened to load or unload property or cargo.

(xvi) "Nonresident" means a person not a resident;

(xvii) "Odometer" means an instrument for measuring and recording the actual distance a motor vehicle travels while in operation, other than any auxiliary odometer designed to be reset by the operator of the motor vehicle for the purpose of recording mileage on trips;

(xviii) "Owner" means:

(A) The legal owner as defined by W.S. 31-1-101(a)(xiv); or

(B) A person, other than a lienholder, who leases a vehicle and is entitled to lawful use and possession of a vehicle subject to a security interest in another person but excluding a lessee under a lease not intended as security.

(xix) "Physical disability" means any bodily impairment which precludes a person from walking or otherwise moving about easily as a pedestrian;

(xx) "Rental vehicle" means a vehicle which is rented or offered for rental without a driver for a period of thirty-one (31) days or less;

(xxi) "Resident" for the purposes of this act and unless otherwise exempt, means any one (1) of the following:

(A) Any person, except a full-time student at the University of Wyoming or a Wyoming community college or a daily commuter from another jurisdiction which exempts vehicles of daily commuters from Wyoming from registration under a reciprocity agreement, who is gainfully employed or engages in any trade, profession or occupation within this state and owns, leases or rents a place of residence or otherwise lives within Wyoming for the purpose of employment or, regardless of domicile or any other circumstance, remains in the jurisdiction for a period of one hundred twenty (120) days or more; or

(B) Any person immediately upon filing a homestead or military tax exemption on property in this state; or

(C) Any person, partnership, company, firm, corporation or association which maintains a main or branch office or warehouse facility within Wyoming or which bases and operates motor vehicles in Wyoming; or

(D) Any individual, partnership, company, firm, corporation or association which operates motor vehicles in intrastate haulage in Wyoming; or

(E) Any person, immediately upon the date of registering to vote in Wyoming; or

(F) Any person, immediately upon the date of application for public assistance from this state; or

(G) Any person, immediately upon purchasing or holding a valid Wyoming resident hunting or fishing license.

(xxii) "This act" means W.S. 31-1-101 through 31-4-104;

(xxiii) "Trailer" means a vehicle without propelling power designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle, but excludes converter gear, dollies and connecting mechanisms. The term includes the following vehicles as hereafter defined:

(A) "House trailer" means every trailer which is:

(I) Designed, constructed and equipped as a dwelling place, living abode or sleeping place, either permanently or temporarily;

(II) Equipped for use as a conveyance on streets and highways; and

(III) Eight and one-half (8 1/2) feet or less in width, excluding appurtenances, or more than eight and one-half (8 1/2) feet in width and used primarily as a mobile laboratory or mobile office.

(B) "Semitrailer" means a trailer so designed and used in conjunction with a motor vehicle that some part of its weight and that of its load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle, but excludes converter gear, dollies and connecting mechanisms;

(C) "Utility trailer" means any trailer less than six thousand (6,000) pounds gross vehicle weight.

(xxiv) "Transportable home" means and includes the following as defined:

(A) "Modular home" means a residential dwelling constructed in a factory to a residential construction code other than the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards;

(B) "Prebuilt home" means any residential dwelling that is wholly, or in substantial part, made, fabricated, formed or assembled in manufacturing facilities for installation or assembly on a building site. Prebuilt home shall include, but not be limited to, a manufactured home, modular home and mobile home; or

(C) "Manufactured home" means a residential dwelling built in accordance with the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards which is a unit more than eight and one-half (8 1/2) feet in width which is designed, constructed and equipped as a dwelling place, living abode or place of business to which wheels may be attached for movement upon streets and highways except a unit used primarily as a mobile laboratory or mobile office.

(xxv) "Unladen weight" means the actual weight of a vehicle including the cab, body and all accessories with which the vehicle is equipped for normal use on the highways excluding the weight of any load. The unladen weight of vehicles mounted with machinery or equipment not normally designed for the vehicle and not used for the transportation of property other than the machinery or equipment is three-fourths (3/4) of the gross weight of the vehicle;

(xxvi) "Vehicle" means a device in, upon or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excluding devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon rails or tracks, implements of husbandry, machinery used in construction work not mainly used for the transportation of property over highways and pedestrian vehicles while operated by a person who by reason of a physical disability is otherwise unable to move about as a pedestrian;

(xxvii) "Vehicle identification number or VIN" means the numbers and letters, if any, designated by the department for the purpose of identifying the vehicle or the unique identifier assigned to each vehicle by the manufacturer pursuant to regulations;

(xxviii) "U-Drive-It vehicle" means a vehicle which is rented or offered for rental without a driver for a period of thirty-one (31) days or less, including consumer rental trucks and trailers used to transport personal property and effects, but not including:

(A) Trucks and trailers used to transport commercial freight;

(B) Trailers rented from an agency that does not also offer motor vehicles for rental.

(xxix) "Motorized skateboard" means a self-propelled device which has a motor or engine, a deck on which a person may ride and at least two (2) wheels in contact with the ground and which is not otherwise defined in this act as a "motor vehicle", "motorcycle", "motor-driven cycle" or "pedestrian vehicle".

(xxx) "Annual registration month" means:

(A) For a vehicle currently registered in this state, the month in which the registration expires;

(B) For a newly acquired vehicle, the month of acquisition;

(C) For any other vehicle, the month in which the vehicle was initially required to be registered in this state;

(D) For dealer demo, full use and manufacturer license plates, the month in which the dealer's certificate was issued.

(xxxi) "Full-time student" means, for the purpose of this act: a person who attends the University of Wyoming, community college or any school licensed in this state offering post secondary education on a full-time basis, as defined by the University of Wyoming, community college or any other post secondary school licensed in this state;

(xxxii) "Special equipment" includes any equipment not included in the manufacturer's suggested retail price and not required for the operation of a vehicle upon a highway, but that is attached to the vehicle` during the period for which registration is issued and used for a business or other purpose.