[Ord. No. 326-2008 §1, 4-1-2008]
Chapter 300, RSMo., consisting of Sections 300.010 through 300.600, in the form that has been enacted by the Missouri General Assembly as of February 5, 2008, commonly known as the "Model Traffic Ordinance" is hereby adopted as and for the traffic ordinance of this City, except for the following Sections which are expressly deleted: 300.010(3), (6), (8), (10), (24) and (38); 300.320, 300.325, 300.460 and 300.485. Unless and until the City Council has rejected amendments to the Missouri Model Traffic Code enacted by the Missouri General Assembly, those amendments are hereby incorporated by reference upon their effective date.
[Code 1962 §18-2; CC 1979 §16-2; Ord. No. 973 §1, 10-4-1977; Ord. No. 1095, 11-4-1980; Ord. No. 88-30 §1, 6-21-1988]
Except as may otherwise be provided, whenever the following words and phrases are used in this Title, they shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this Section:
ALLEY OR ALLEYWAY
Any street with a roadway of less than twenty (20) feet in width.
ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE
Any motorized vehicle manufactured and used exclusively for off-highway use which is fifty (50) inches or less in width, with an unladen dry weight of six hundred (600) pounds or less, traveling on three (3), four (4) or more low pressure tires, with a seat designed to be straddled by the operator, and handlebars for steering control.
ANGLE PARKING
The standing of any vehicle, whether occupied or not, upon a highway, road or street in a manner where the longitudinal axes of vehicles form an angle with the alignment of the roadway.
AUTHORIZED EMERGENCY VEHICLE
Is a vehicle of any of the following types:
A. 
A vehicle operated by the State Highway Patrol, those vehicles operated by enforcement personnel by the division of transportation of the Department of Economic Development, Police or Fire Department, Sheriff, Constable or Deputy Sheriff, Federal Law Enforcement Officer authorized to carry firearms and to make arrests for violations of the laws of the United States, Traffic Officer or coroner or by a privately owned emergency vehicle company;
B. 
A vehicle operated as an ambulance or operated commercially for the purpose of transporting emergency medical supplies or organs;
C. 
Any vehicle qualifying as an emergency vehicle under Section 307.175, RSMo.;
D. 
Any wrecker, or tow truck or a vehicle owned and operated by a public utility or public service corporation while performing emergency service;
E. 
Any vehicle transporting equipment designed to extricate human beings from the wreckage of a motor vehicle;
F. 
Any vehicle designated to perform emergency functions for a civil defense or emergency management agency established under the provisions of Chapter 44, RSMo.
BICYCLE
Every device propelled by human power upon which any person may ride, having two (2) or more tandem wheels either of which is twelve (12) or more inches in diameter.
BUS
A motor vehicle primarily for the transportation of a driver and eight or more passengers but not including shuttle buses.
BUSINESS DISTRICT
The territory contiguous to and including a highway when within any six hundred (600) feet along the highway there are buildings in use for business or industrial purposes, including but not limited to hotels, banks, or office buildings, railroad stations and public buildings which occupy at least three hundred (300) feet of frontage on one (1) side or three hundred (300) feet collectively on both sides of the highway.
CENTERLINE
A line marking the center of a roadway on which traffic moves in both directions, or dividing the roadway between traffic moving in opposite directions.
CENTRAL BUSINESS (OR TRAFFIC) DISTRICT
All streets and portions of streets within the area described by City ordinance as such.
CHIEF OF POLICE
The Chief of Police of the City.
COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE
A motor vehicle designed or regularly used for carrying freight and merchandise, or more than eight (8) passengers but not including vanpools or shuttle buses.
CONGESTED AREA
A highway, street or alley intermittently or continuously overcrowded due to a lack of mobility or means and method of progression and where traffic cannot execute regular movements with a reasonable degree of safety.
CONTROLLED ACCESS HIGHWAY
Every highway, street or roadway in respect to which owners or occupants of abutting lands and other persons have no legal right of access to or from the same except at such points only and in such manner as may be determined by the public authority having jurisdiction over the highway, street or roadway.
CROSSWALK
That portion of a roadway ordinarily included within the prolongation or connection of curb and property lines at intersections, or any pedestrian crossing, indicated by lines or other markings on the surface.
CURB
The lateral boundaries of that portion of the street designated for the use of vehicles, whether marked with curbstones or not.
CURB LOADING ZONE
A space adjacent to a curb reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles during the loading or unloading of passengers or materials.
DRIVE-IN
A place where the occupants of motor vehicles are served while seated in the vehicle, including but not limited to drive-in theaters, restaurants and filling stations.
DRIVER
Any person who drives or is in actual physical control of the vehicle, including the rider of a horse or other animal and the rider of a bicycle.
FARM TRACTOR
A tractor used exclusively for agricultural purposes.
FREIGHT CURB LOADING ZONE
A space adjacent to a curb for the exclusive use of vehicles during the loading or unloading of freight (or passengers).
GOLF CART
A motor vehicle that is designed and manufactured for operation on a golf course for sporting or recreational purposes and that is not capable of exceeding speeds of twenty (20) miles per hour.
[Ord. No. 305-2022, 5-17-2022; Ord. No. 338-2022, 9-20-2022]
HIGHWAY
The entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel.
IMPROVED HIGHWAY OR STREET
A highway, road or street which has been paved with gravel, macadam, concrete, brick or asphalt, or surfaced in such a manner that the same presents a hard, durable and smooth traveling surface.
INTERSECTION
A. 
The area embraced within the prolongation or connection of the lateral curb lines, or, if none, then the lateral boundary lines of the roadways of two (2) highways which join one another at, or approximately at, right angles, or the area within which vehicles traveling upon different highways joining at any other angle may come in conflict;
B. 
Where a highway includes two (2) roadways thirty (30) feet or more apart, then every crossing of each roadway of such divided highway by an intersecting highway shall be regarded as a separate intersection. In the event such intersecting highway also includes two (2) roadways thirty (30) feet or more apart, then every crossing of two (2) roadways of such highways shall be regarded as a separate intersection.
LANED ROADWAY
A roadway which is divided into two (2) or more clearly marked lanes for vehicular traffic.
LIVE OR GROSS LOAD
The weight of the cargo of a commercial motor vehicle, in addition to that of the chassis and body of the vehicle.
MINOR TRAFFIC VIOLATION
[Ord. No. 41-2015 §1, 10-20-2015]
A. 
Any violation of the municipal ordinance:
1. 
For which the Missouri Department of Revenue is authorized to assess no more than four (4) points to a person’s driving record upon conviction; and
2. 
That does not involve:
a. 
An accident or injury,
b. 
The operation of a commercial vehicle,
c. 
Exceeding a speed limit by more than nineteen (19) miles per hour, or
d. 
A violation occurring within a construction zone or a school zone.
MOTOR VEHICLE
Any self-propelled vehicle not operated exclusively upon tracks, except farm tractors, motorized bicycles, and golf carts. See also the definition of "GOLF CART" in this Section.
[Ord. No. 305-2022, 5-17-2022; Ord. No. 338-2022, 9-20-2022]
MOTORCYCLE
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 excluding a tractor.
MOTORIZED BICYCLE
Any two (2) wheeled or three (3) wheeled device having an automatic transmission and a motor with a cylinder capacity of not more than fifty (50) cubic centimeters, which produces less than three (3) gross brake horsepower, and is capable of propelling the device at a maximum speed of not more than thirty (30) miles per hour on level ground.
MOTORTRICYCLE
A motor vehicle operated on three (3) wheels including a motorcycle while operated with any conveyance, temporarily or otherwise, requiring the use of a third (3rd) wheel.
NO-PASSING ZONES
Zones determined and indicated by signs or markings where overtaking and passing is deemed unsafe, and under this Title is declared unlawful.
OFFICIAL TIME STANDARD
Whenever certain hours are named herein they shall mean standard time or daylight-saving time as may be in current use in the City.
OFFICIAL TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES
All signs, signals, markings and devices not inconsistent with this Title placed or erected by authority of a public body or official having jurisdiction, for the purpose of regulating, warning or guiding traffic.
ONE-WAY STREET OR HIGHWAY
A street or highway where vehicles are required by regulation to move in one direction only and standard signs, signals and markings are so placed as to indicate the direction of such movement.
OPERATOR
Any person who is in actual physical control of a vehicle.
OWNER
A person who holds the legal title of a vehicle, or in the event a vehicle is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional vendee or lessee, or in the event the mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession, then such conditional vendee or lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the owner for the purpose of this Title.
PARK OR PARKING
The standing of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, otherwise than temporarily for the purpose of and while actually engaged in loading or unloading merchandise or passengers.
PARKING LOT
An area on public or private property where spaces are provided gratuitously or for hire for the parking of motor vehicles; provided, that nothing herein shall be construed to include driveways or other portions of single-family residential lots used by the occupant and his/her invitees for parking automobiles, nor to spaces on public streets where parking is permitted.
PASSENGER CURB LOADING ZONE
A place adjacent to a curb reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles during the loading or unloading of passengers.
PEDESTRIAN
Any person afoot.
PERSON
Every natural person, firm, co-partnership, association or corporation.
PNEUMATIC TIRES
Tires of rubber or other substance and fabric, inflated with air.
POLICE OR TRAFFIC OFFICER
Every Officer of the City Police Department or any Officer lawfully and duly authorized, deputized, assigned or called upon to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of traffic regulations, including members of the Police Reserve Force of the City.
PRIVATE ROAD OR DRIVEWAY
Every way or place in private ownership and used for vehicular travel by the owner and those having express or implied permission from the owner, but not by other persons.
PROTECTIVE HEADGEAR
Protective headgear that meets reasonable standards and specifications established by the Director of Revenue of the State of Missouri.
RAILROAD
A carrier of persons or property upon cars, other than streetcars, operated upon stationary rails.
RAILROAD SIGN OR SIGNAL
Any sign, signal or device erected by authority of a public body or official or by a railroad and intended to give notice of the presence of railroad tracks or the approach of a railroad train.
RAILROAD TRAIN
A steam engine, electric or other motor, with or without cars coupled thereto, operated upon rails, except streetcars.
RESIDENCE DISTRICT
The territory contiguous to and including a highway not comprising a business district when the property on such highway for a distance of three hundred (300) feet or more is in the main improved with residences or residences and buildings in use for business.
RIGHT-OF-WAY
The right of one (1) vehicle or pedestrian to proceed in a lawful manner in preference to another vehicle or pedestrian approaching under such circumstances of direction, speed and proximity as to give rise to danger of collision unless one grants precedence to the other.
ROADWAY
That portion of a highway improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the berm or shoulder. In the event a highway includes two or more separate roadways the term "roadway" as used herein shall refer to any such roadway separately but not to all such roadways collectively.
SAFETY ZONE
The area or space officially set apart within a roadway for the exclusive use of pedestrians and which is protected or is so marked or indicated by adequate signs as to be plainly visible at all times while set apart as a safety zone.
SCHOOL BUS
Any motor vehicle used solely to transport students to or from school or to transport students to or from any place for educational purposes.
SCHOOL ZONE
A space or any portion of a highway, road, street or alley lawfully designated and duly posted for the general safety of persons proceeding to and from any public, private or parochial school.
SERVICE CAR
A motor vehicle other than a motor bus offered for or engaged in carrying passengers for hire over a designated route and for a fixed fare.
SIDEWALK
That portion of a street between the curb lines, or the lateral lines of a roadway, and the adjacent property lines, intended for use of pedestrians.
SOLID TIRES
Tires of rubber or other resilient material, other than pneumatic tires.
SPEED LIMIT
Maximum speed as prescribed by ordinance within a zone determined and indicated with numerical signs or markings designating such speeds, travel in excess of which is unlawful under this Title.
SPEED ZONES
Zones determined from an engineering or traffic study, and indicated with posted prima facie speed limit numeral signs or markings, which designate maximum reasonable speeds, travel in excess of which is unlawful under this Title.
STAND OR STANDING
The halting of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, otherwise than for the purpose of and while actually engaged in receiving or discharging passengers.
STOP
When required, complete cessation from movement.
STOP OR STOPPING
When prohibited, any halting even momentarily of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a Police Officer or traffic control sign or signal.
STREET OR HIGHWAY
The entire width between the lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the uses of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. "State Highway", a highway maintained by the State of Missouri as a part of the State Highway system.
TAXICAB
A motor vehicle other than a bus offered for or engaged in carrying passengers for hire.
THROUGH HIGHWAY
Every highway or portion thereof on which vehicular traffic is given preferential right-of-way, and at the entrances to which vehicular traffic from intersecting highways is required by law to yield right-of-way to vehicles on such through highway in obedience to either a stop sign or a yield sign, when such signs are erected as provided in this Title.
TRACTOR, TRUCK TRACTOR OR TRUCK-TRACTOR
A self-propelled motor vehicle designed for drawing other vehicles, but not for the carriage of any load when operating independently. When attached to a semitrailer, it supports a part of the weight thereof.
TRAFFIC
Pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, bicycles, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singularly or together, while using any highway, road or street for purposes of travel.
TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGNAL
Any device, whether manually, electrically or mechanically operated, by which traffic is alternately directed to stop and to proceed.
TRAFFIC DIVISION
The Traffic Division of the Police Department of the City, or in the event a Traffic Division is not established, then said term whenever used herein shall be deemed to refer to the Police Department of the City.
TRAILER
Any vehicle without motive power designed for carrying property or passengers on its own structure and for being drawn by a self-propelled vehicle, except those running exclusively on tracks, including a semitrailer or vehicle of the trailer type so designed and used in conjunction with a self-propelled vehicle that a considerable part of its own weight rests upon and is carried by the towing vehicle.
TRUCK
Every motor vehicle designed, used or maintained primarily for the transportation of property, having gross weight capacity of one and one-half (1½) ton or more.
VEHICLE
Any mechanical device on wheels, designed primarily for use, or used, on highways, except motorized bicycles, vehicles propelled or drawn by horses or human power, or vehicles used exclusively on fixed rails or tracks, cotton trailers or motorized wheelchairs operated by handicapped persons.
VEND OR VENDING
To peddle, sell or display for sale or exhibition any merchandise or materials which act tends to or may tend to create traffic confusion or congestion, and in the opinion of the authorities having jurisdiction creates or constitutes a traffic hazard.
[1]
Cross Reference — Rules of construction and definitions generally, §100.020.