Tennessee § 55-8-178 - Regulations governing nonmotor vehicles and animals — Penalty.

§ 55-8-178. Regulations governing nonmotor vehicles and animals — Penalty.

Every driver or person having charge of any nonmotor vehicle, on any of the public roads in or of this state, on meeting and passing another vehicle, shall give one-half (½) of the road by turning to the right, so as not to interfere in passing. When nonmotor vehicles on public roads are traveling in the same direction, and the driver of the hindmost desires to pass the foremost, each driver shall give one-half (½) of the road, the foremost by turning to the right, and the hindmost to the left. No driver shall stop a nonmotor vehicle on any of the public roads, for any cause or pretense whatever, without turning so far to the right as to leave at least one-half (½) of the road free, open, and unobstructed for other travelers and vehicles. Subdivision (c)(1) does not apply to a certified police cyclist engaged in the lawful performance of duty relating to traffic control. Drivers of nonmotor vehicles on public roads shall pass each other in a quiet, orderly, and peaceable manner, and shall not make any noise intended to disturb or frighten the driver or the animals drawing nonmotor vehicles. No person shall willfully, by noise, gesture or by other means, on or near public roads, disturb or frighten the driver or rider or the animals ridden or drawing vehicles thereon. An intentional or careless violation of this section is a Class C misdemeanor. A willful or malicious violation of this section, whereby the death of any person is occasioned, is a Class E felony. All horse-drawn vehicles and/or equipment, whether farm or passenger, shall be equipped with a self-luminous white lamp which shall be visible from the front from a distance of at least five hundred feet (500') and with a self-luminous red lamp on the rear which shall be visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet (500') to the rear. This subsection (g) applies only if the horse-drawn vehicle is used as the owner's primary mode of personal or farm transportation and is regularly driven upon public roads or highways or the rights-of-way thereof. This subsection (g) does not apply in any county having a population of not less than three hundred nineteen thousand six hundred twenty-five (319,625) nor more than three hundred nineteen thousand seven hundred twenty-five (319,725) or of not less than eighty-eight thousand seven hundred (88,700) nor more than eighty-eight thousand eight hundred (88,800), according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census. Code 1858, §§ 1172-1177, 4649 (deriv. Acts 1837-1838, ch. 114, §§ 1-6); Acts 1911, ch. 33; Shan., §§ 1600-1605, 6491; mod. Code 1932, §§ 2671-2677; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 59-879; Acts 1988, ch. 947, §§ 1-4; 1989, ch. 452, §§ 1-3; 1989, ch. 591, §§ 1, 6, 113; 1995, ch. 140, § 7. Code Commission Notes. The felony in this section has been designated as a Class E felony by authority of § 40-35-110 , which provides that an offense designated a felony without specification as to category is a Class E felony. See also § 39-11-113 . Compiler's Notes. For tables of U.S. decennial populations of Tennessee counties, see Volume 13 and its supplement. Cross-References. Employer's liability for violations by employee, § 55-10-313 . Penalty for Class C misdemeanor, § 40-35-111 . Penalty for Class E felony, § 40-35-111 . Textbooks. Tennessee Jurisprudence, 4 Tenn. Juris., Automobiles, § 2.