TITLE 8

Motor Vehicles and Traffic

Chapter 1      General provisions

Chapter 2      Traffic Regulations

Chapter 3      Parking Regulations

CHAPTER 1

General provisions

§    8-1-1      Uniform Rules of the Road adopted.

§    8-1-2      Temporary traffic regulations.

§    8-1-3      Vehicle cover required.

§    8-1-4      Traffic, speed, truck, parking and other zones, signs and traffic control devices; schedule.

§    8-1-5      Obstruction of view and use by trees and shrubs; notice.

Section 8-1-1            Uniform Rules of the Road adopted.

Pursuant to chapter 6 of title 40, code sections 40-6-372 through 40-6-376, sections 40-6-1 through 40-6-354 of that chapter known as the Uniform Rules of the Road, are hereby adopted as and for the traffic regulations of this city with like effect as if recited herein.

Section 8-1-2            Temporary traffic regulations.

In cases where traffic upon the streets of the city may become congested upon occasions of parades, at theaters and other public assemblages where large numbers of vehicles are assembled, the police chief may make temporary rules directing and regulating the traffic in these congested districts, and any person, after being warned of the temporary traffic regulations, who shall violate them shall be liable therefore as for other violations of this code.

Section 8-1-3            Vehicle cover required.

No person shall operate or load any vehicle on the public streets and roads of this city unless the vehicle is constructed, loaded and securely covered so as to prevent any of its load from dropping, escaping or shifting in such a manner as to create a safety hazard or in such a manner so as to litter the streets and roads of the city.

Section 8-1-4            Traffic, speed, truck, parking and other zones, signs and traffic control devices; schedule.

(1)  The police chief or a designee thereof, upon approval by ordinance of the city council, is authorized to designate and maintain with appropriate traffic control signs, markings and devices after engineering and traffic investigations:

(a)   speed zones;

(b)  truck routes and streets to be designated specifically to prohibit various classes of trucks;

(c)   one-way streets and other directional control devices;

(d)  ­freight loading zones and regulations;

(e)   parking and no parking zones and regulations thereon;

(f)   stop, yield and other right-of-way signs; and

(g)  stop signals and other traffic signals.

(2)  The police chief or a designee thereof is authorized to issue written orders designating by appropriate traffic control signs, markings and devices after engineering and traffic investigations:

(a)   pedestrian crosswalks;

(b)  other safety zones for pedestrians;

(c)   traffic lanes; and

(d)  any other sign, marking or zone -necessary for orderly and safe conditions on the streets of the city.

(3)  The police chief shall maintain or cause to be recorded a current schedule of all traffic rules, regulations and orders under this section, which record shall be available for inspection by the public. For items listed in subsection (a) above, this schedule, and any amendments thereto, shall become effective only upon approval thereof by ordinance of the city council and this schedule is hereby incorporated herein and copies thereof shall be available for public inspection in the office of the city clerk.

(4)  All traffic control signs, signals, devices and mark­ings shall conform to specifications in the "Manual on Uniform Traffic-control Devices" adopted by the state transportation board. All signs and signals required hereunder for a particular purpose shall, so far as practicable, be uniform as to type and location throughout the city. All traffic control devices so erected and not inconsistent with the provisions of state law or this code shall be official traffic control devices of the city.

(5)  Any violation of any traffic zone, marking, sign or other traffic control device established hereunder shall be a violation of this code.

Section   8-1-5         Obstruction of view and use by trees and shrubs; notice.

(1)  No person owning, occupying or in anywise controlling property in this city shall permit any tree, bush or shrub on the property to project over any street or sidewalk of this city so as to obstruct or interfere with the view and use of persons walking or riding in a vehicle on the street or sidewalk or of other persons or vehicles approaching from cross or intersecting streets.

(2)  It shall be unlawful for any person, whether the owner, tenant, agent or person controlling property in the city to fail to remove any tree, bush or other obstruction from the streets or sidewalks of this city after 10 days' notice by the city to do so.

CHAPTER 2

Traffic Regulations

§    8-2-1      Free flow of traffic; obstruction prohibited.

§    8-2-2      Speed limits established.

§    8-2-3      Traffic signs, signals and markings.

§    8-2-4      Tracked vehicles prohibited on streets.

§    8-2-5      Penalty for violation.

Section   8-2-1         Free flow of traffic; obstruction prohibited.

All persons are prohibited from engaging in driving procedures which obstruct the free flow of traffic in, around, over and through the streets, alleyways and other public ways of the city. Any person is prohibited from stopping his vehicle (except at a stop signal or stop sign, or to honor another driver's right-of-way, or in an emergency situation) in a manner as to obstruct the free and orderly flow of traffic by the maneuver, or to engage in unduly slow driving procedures so as to obstruct the free flow of traffic or to needlessly "circle the block" or. dawdle or make unnecessarily rapid accelerations and decelerations or to in any other manner constitute a traffic nuisance or hazard.

Section   8-2-2         Speed limits established.

(1)  No person shall operate any motor vehicle or tractor upon any of the streets and highways of the city at a greater speed than is reasonable and proper having regard to the width, traffic and use thereof, or so as to endanger the property or life or limb of any person.

(2)  Thirty miles per hour shall be the maximum speed on all streets or portions of streets within the city unless otherwise indicated by officially posted signs designating the maximum vehicular speed upon those streets as approved by the city council.

Section   8-2-3         Traffic signs, signals and markings.

All traffic shall obey and be directed by official traffic control signals, signs and markings erected at street intersections and other locations now or hereafter approved by the city council.

Section   8-2-4         Tracked vehicles prohibited on streets.

It is unlawful for any person to operate any tracked or other vehicle having metal tracks or wheels upon the city streets.

Section   8-2-5         Penalty for violation.

Any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction be punished as provided in section 1-1-5 of this code.