§ 27-37-501 — Equipment required

(a) (1) Every motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle or motor-driven cycle, when operated upon a highway, shall be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of, and to stop and hold, the vehicle, including two (2) separate means of applying the brakes, each of which means shall be effective to apply the brakes to at least two (2) wheels. (2) If these two (2) separate means of applying the brakes are connected in any way, they shall be constructed so that failure of any one (1) part of the operating mechanism shall not leave the motor vehicle without brakes on at least two (2) wheels. (b) Every motorcycle and every motor-driven cycle, when operated upon a highway, shall be equipped with at least one (1) brake, which may be operated by hand or foot. (c) (1) Every trailer or semitrailer of a gross weight of three thousand pounds (3,000 lbs.) or more when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of, and to stop and to hold, the vehicle and so designed as to be applied by the driver of the towing motor vehicle from its cab. (2) The brakes shall be so designed and connected that in case of an accidental break-away of the towed vehicle, the brakes shall be automatically applied. (d) (1) (A) Every new motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer sold in the state and operated upon the highways shall be equipped with service brakes upon all wheels of every such vehicle, except any motorcycle or motor-driven cycle. (B) Any semitrailer of less than one thousand five hundred pounds (1,500 lbs.) gross weight need not be equipped with brakes. (2) Trucks and truck tractors having three (3) or more axles need not have brakes on the front wheels, except, when the vehicles are equipped with at least two (2) steerable axles, the wheels of one (1) axle need not be equipped with brakes. (e) (1) Every singly driven motor vehicle and every combination of motor vehicles shall, at all times, be equipped with a parking brake or brakes adequate to hold the vehicle or combination on any grade on which it is operated, under any conditions of loading, on a surface free from ice or snow. (2) (A) The parking brake or brakes shall, at all times, be capable of being applied in conformance with the requirements of subdivision (e)(1) of this section by either the driver's muscular effort, by spring action, or by other energy. (B) If other energy is depended on for application of the parking brake, then an accumulation of the energy shall be isolated from any common source and used exclusively for the operation of the parking brake. (3) The parking brake or brakes shall be so designed, constructed, and maintained that when once applied, they shall remain in the applied condition with the required effectiveness despite exhaustion of any source of energy or leakage of any kind and so that they cannot be released unless adequate energy is available upon release of the brake or brakes to make immediate further application with the required effectiveness. (f) The brake shoes operating within or upon the drums on the vehicle wheels of any motor vehicle may be used for both service and hand operation. (g) All brakes shall be maintained in good working order and shall be so adjusted as to operate as equally as practicable with respect to the wheels on opposite sides of the vehicle.

Legislative History

Acts 1937, No. 300, § 124; Pope's Dig., § 6784; Acts 1959, No. 307, § 51; 1965, No. 566, §§ 1, 2; A.S.A. 1947, § 75-724.