Rhode Island § 31-1-17 - Definitions and General Code Provisions

§ 31-1-17. Types of persons.

(a) “Bailee” means a bailee is one to whom possession of personal property has been entrusted by the bailor for a specific purpose resulting from either an express or implied contract, with the understanding that this personal property shall be returned to the bailor or any person designated by the bailor when the terms and purposes of the contract have been accomplished.

(b) “Chauffeur” means any person who drives a jitney, bus, school bus, motor vehicle used principally for hire with operator, or trackless trolley coach, regardless of the vehicle’s capacity, and any person who drives a truck, tractor, or tractor semi-trailer, if the gross vehicle weight is twenty-six thousand and one pounds (26,001 lbs.) or more. Proper officers and drivers of fire apparatus when in the performance of their duties are not deemed to be chauffeurs.

(c) “Driver” means any operator or chauffeur who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle.

(d) “Operator” means every person, other than a chauffeur, who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle upon a highway or who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle.

(e) “Owner” means a person who holds the legal title to a vehicle. In the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for conditional sale or lease with right of purchase upon performance of stated conditions and immediate right of possession vested in the vendee or lessee, or in the event a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then the conditional vendee, lessee, or mortgagor is deemed the owner for the purposes of chapters 1 — 27 of this title.

(f) “Pedestrian” means any person afoot.

(g) “Person” means every individual, firm, partnership, corporation, or association.

(h) “Skateboarder, rollerskater, inline skater, or scooter rider” means any person who utilizes a human-powered device containing any number of wheels, whether in tandem or inline, which enables the person to propel himself or herself in a given direction.