{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-281a.010","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 281A.010","heading":"Definitions for chapter.","body":"As used in this chapter:\n(1) \"Alcohol\" means:\n(a) Beer, ale, port, or stout and other similar fermented beverages, including sake\nor similar products, of any name or description containing one -half of one\npercent (0.5%) or more of alcohol by volume, brewed or produced from malt,\nwholly or in part, or from any substitute therefor;\n(b) Wine of not less than one-half of one percent (0.5%) of alcohol by volume;\n(c) Distilled spirits, which means that substance known as ethyl alcohol, ethanol,\nor spirits of wine in any form, including all dilutions and mixtures  thereof\nfrom whatever source or by whatever process produced; or\n(d) Any substance containing ethyl alcohol, hydrated oxide of ethyl, spirit of\nwine, or any distilled spirits including but not limited to ethanol, methanol,\npropanol, and isopropanol;\n(2) \"Alcohol concentration\" means:\n(a) The number of grams of alcohol per one hundred (100) milliliters of blood;\n(b) The number of grams of alcohol per two hundred ten (210) liters of breath; or\n(c) The number of grams of alcohol per sixty-seven (67) milliliters of urine;\n(3) \"Cabinet\" means the Transportation Cabinet;\n(4) \"Commerce\" means:\n(a) Any trade, traffic, or transportation within the jurisdiction of the United States\nbetween a place in a stat e and a place outside of the state, including a place\noutside of the United States; and\n(b) Trade, traffic, and transportation in the United States that affects any trade,\ntraffic, and transportation described in paragraph (a) of this subsection;\n(5) \"Commercial driver's license\" or \"CDL\" means a license issued to an individual in\naccordance with the requirements of this chapter or, if the license is issued by\nanother state in accordance with the Federal Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act,\nto an individual  that authorizes the individual to drive any class of commercial\nmotor vehicle;\n(6) \"Commercial driver's license information system\" or \"CDLIS\" means the national\ninformation system established to serve as a clearinghouse for locating information\nrelated to the licensing and identification of commercial motor vehicle drivers;\n(7) \"Commercial learner's permit\" or \"CLP\" means a permit issued pursuant to KRS\n281A.120;\n(8) \"Commercial motor vehicle\" or \"CMV\" means a motor vehicle or combination\nmotor vehicle used in commerce that is:\n(a) Designed to carry property and has a gross vehicle weight rating as\ndetermined by federal regulation which has been adopted into cabinet\nadministrative regulations pursuant to KRS Chapter 13A;\n(b) Designed to transport sixteen (16) or more passengers, including the driver;\n(c) Transporting hazardous materials and is required to be placarded in\naccordance with 49 C.F.R. pt. 172; or\n(d) Any other vehicle that is required by cabinet administrative regulation,\npursuant to KRS Chapter  13A, to be operated by a licensed commercial\ndriver;\n(9) \"Controlled substance\" means any substance so classified under 21 U.S.C. sec.\n802(6), and includes all substances listed on Schedules I through V of 21 C.F.R. pt.\n1308, as adopted by the Transportat ion Cabinet by administrative regulation\npursuant to KRS Chapter 13A. It shall also include those substances defined or\nlisted in KRS Chapter 218A;\n(10) \"Conviction\" means an unvacated adjudication of guilt, or a determination that a\nperson has violated or  failed to comply with the law in a court of original\njurisdiction or an authorized administrative tribunal, an unvacated forfeiture of bail\nor collateral deposited to secure the person's appearance in court, a plea of guilty, a\nplea of nolo contendere, or  Alford plea entered and accepted by the court, the\npayment of a fine or court cost, or violation of a condition of release without bail,\nregardless of whether or not the penalty is rebated, suspended, or probated;\n(11) \"Disqualification\" means any of the following actions:\n(a) The suspension, revocation, or cancellation of a CDL by the Commonwealth\nor the jurisdiction of issuance;\n(b) Any withdrawal of a person's privilege to drive a commercial motor vehicle\nby the Commonwealth or another jurisdiction as a result of a violation of state\nor local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control, other than parking,\nvehicle weight, or vehicle defect violations; or\n(c) A determination by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that a\nperson is not qualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle under 49 C.F.R.\npt. 391;\n(12) \"Drive\" means to drive, operate, or be in physical control of a motor vehicle;\n(13) \"Driver\" means any person who drives, operates, or is in physical control of a\ncommercial motor vehicle, or who is required to hold a commercial driver's license;\n(14) \"Driver's license\" or \"operator's license\" means a license issued by a state to an\nindividual that authorizes the individual to drive a motor vehicle;\n(15) \"Employee\" means any operator of a commercial motor vehicle, including full -\ntime, regularly employed drivers; casual, intermittent, or occasional drivers; leased\ndrivers and independent, owner -operator contractors while in the course of\noperating a commercial motor vehicle who are either directly employed by, under\nlease to, or operating in a manner indicating employment to an employer;\n(16) \"Employer\" means any person, including the United States, a state, or a political\nsubdivision of a state, who owns or leases a commercial motor vehicl e, or assigns a\nperson to drive a commercial motor vehicle;\n(17) \"Felony\" means any offense under state or federal law that is punishable by death or\nimprisonment for a term exceeding one (1) year;\n(18) \"Gross combination weight rating\" or \"GCWR\" is the gross vehicle weight rating of\npower unit plus the gross vehicle weight rating of any towed unit. In the absence of\na value specified by the manufacturer, GCWR shall be determined by the combined\nactual physical weight of the vehicle, including passengers, c argo, fuel, all other\nitems, and, if towing, the tongue weight;\n(19) \"Gross vehicle weight rating\" or \"GVWR\" means the value specified by the\nmanufacturer as the maximum loaded weight of a single, a combination or an\narticulated vehicle;\n(20) \"Hazardous materials\" has the same meaning as in 49 C.F.R. sec. 383.5;\n(21) \"Highway\" shall include any way or place of any nature when any part of it is open\nto the use of the public as a matter of right, license, or privilege for the use of\nvehicular traffic;\n(22) \"Imminent hazard\" means a condition that presents a substantial l ikelihood that\ndeath, serious illness, severe personal injury, or a danger to health, property, or the\nenvironment exists;\n(23) \"Moped\" shall have the same meaning as in KRS 186.010(5);\n(24) \"Motor vehicle\" means a vehicle, machine, tractor, trailer, or se mitrailer propelled\nor drawn by mechanical power used on highways, or any other vehicle required to\nbe registered under the laws of this state, but shall not include any vehicle, machine,\ntractor, trailer, or semitrailers operated exclusively on a rail;\n(25) \"NDR\" means the national driver register;\n(26) \"Out-of-service order\" means a declaration by an authorized enforcement officer of\na federal, state, Canadian, Mexican, or local jurisdiction that a driver, commercial\nmotor vehicle, or a motor carrier oper ation is out of service pursuant to 49 C.F.R.\nsecs. 386.72, 392.5, 395.13, or 396.9; comparable laws or regulations; or the North\nAmerican Uniform Out-of-Service Criteria;\n(27) \"Resident\" means a person who has established Kentucky as his or her state of\ndomicile. Proof of residency shall include but not be limited to a deed or property\ntax bill, utility agreement or utility bill, or rental housing agreement;\n(28) \"School bus\" means a vehicle that meets the specification of KRS 156.153 used to\ntransport pre primary, primary, or secondary school students between school and\nhome, or to and from school-sponsored events. A school bus shall not include a bus\nused as a common carrier;\n(29) \"Serious traffic violation\" means a conviction when operating a commercial m otor\nvehicle of:\n(a) Excessive speeding, involving a single charge of any speed fifteen (15) miles\nper hour or more, above the specified speed limit;\n(b) Reckless driving, as defined under state or local law, including conviction of\ndriving a commercial mo tor vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the\nsafety of persons or property;\n(c) Improper or erratic traffic lane changes;\n(d) Following the vehicle ahead too closely;\n(e) A violation of any state or local law related to motor vehicle traffic control,\nother than a parking violation, arising in connection with a fatal accident;\n(f) Driving a commercial motor vehicle without a CDL;\n(g) Driving a commercial motor vehicle without a CDL in one's possession or\nrefusing to display a CDL upon request;\n(h) Driving a commercial motor vehicle without the proper class of CDL or\nendorsements, or both, for the specific vehicle type or types being operated or\nfor the passengers or type or types of cargo being transported; or\n(i) Any conviction of an offense that requi res mandatory suspension under KRS\n186.560 or a serious violation as defined by 49 C.F.R. pt. 383;\n(30) \"Severe forms of trafficking in persons\" has the same meaning as in 22 U.S.C. sec.\n7102;\n(31) \"State\" means a state of the United States and the District of Columbia;\n(32) \"State police\" means the Department of Kentucky State Police; and\n(33) \"Vehicle\" means every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or\nmay be transported or drawn along a public highway, except devices moved by\nhuman or animal power, used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks, or which\nderives its power from overhead wires.","path":["KRS Chapter 281A"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=55026","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:53:34Z","sha256":"f20d766661a211de2b6c5134c749093eb11d79e357d2652038ca665e4f208b94","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-281.999","next":"us-ky/krs-281a.020"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}