Street sweeper operation – Liability

(a) For the purpose of this section, “street sweeper” means a vacuum or broom-type vehicle used for routine mechanized street, road, interstate highway, and/or bridge sweeping to clean and remove sand, dirt, soil, paper, glass, cans, and other debris. Ask a accident law question, get an answer ASAP!Thousands of highly rated, verified accident lawyers.(A) For purposes of a conventionally operated vehicle, every person, other than a chauffeur, who drives or is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle upon a highway or who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105Road: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105Roadway: means that portion of a highway improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the berm or shoulder. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101Street: means the entire width between boundary lines of every way when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highway for purposes of travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101Vehicle: means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101(b) If operated in compliance with the national highway traffic safety administration standards, including the National Highway Safety Manual, a street sweeper may make intermittent stops as necessary to collect tree limbs, debris, and other objects the street sweeper cannot automatically collect and travel at a speed below the lawful minimum speed: (1) On any particular roadway in all nonresidential areas at any time except six thirty a.m. (6:30 a.m.) to eight thirty a.m. (8:30 a.m.) and three thirty p.m. (3:30 p.m.) to six o’clock p.m. (6:00 p.m.) on weekdays; (2) On any particular roadway in all residential areas at any time; or (3) Notwithstanding subdivisions (b)(1) and (2), at any time on any roadway after an emergency or an event that makes street sweeping necessary or desirable. (c) Absent noncompliance with this section, operator negligence or an intentional tort by an operator, operation of a street sweeper in compliance with this section shall not be a violation of law, and shall not subject the street sweeper to liability for claims for personal injury, property damage or death.