A.
The driver of any authorized emergency vehicle, when
responding to an emergency call or when in the pursuit of an actual
or suspected violator of the law or when responding to but not upon
returning from a fire alarm, may exercise the privileges set forth
in this section, but subject to the condition herein stated.
B.
The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle may:
(1)
Park or stand, irrespective of the provisions of this
chapter;
(2)
Proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign, but
only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation;
(3)
Exceed the speed limit so long as he does not endanger
life or property;
(4)
Disregard regulations governing direction of movement
or turning in specified directions.
C.
The exemptions herein granted to an authorized emergency
vehicle shall apply only when such vehicle is making use of audible
or visual signals meeting the requirements of this code.
D.
The foregoing provision shall not relieve the driver
of an authorized emergency vehicle from the duty with due regard for
the safety of all persons nor shall such provisions protect the driver
from the consequences of his reckless disregard for the safety of
others.
The driver of any vehicle shall immediately
drive his vehicle to the extreme right-hand part or portion of any
street, bringing it to a full and complete stop until such time as
any fire engine, police car or ambulance shall have passed the point
at which such vehicle shall be stopped, on the sounding of any fire,
police, or ambulance siren along any such street.
A.
No driver of any vehicle within the Town other than
drivers upon official business shall follow or trail any fire engine
or apparatus traveling in response to a fire alarm closer than 500
feet of the place where fire apparatus has been stopped in answer
to a fire alarm.
B.
No person shall drive any motor vehicle over or upon
any line or hose laid for the purpose of extinguishing fire.
No vehicle shall be parked upon any street within
the Town with its engine in operation and the driver thereof not in
attendance.
No person shall operate or permit to be operated
any unlicensed motor vehicle on any public way within the corporate
limits of the Town.
No person shall drive a vehicle not his own,
without the consent of the owner thereof, with intent temporarily
to deprive the owner of his possession of such vehicle, but without
intent to steal the vehicle. The consent of the owner of the vehicle
to its taking or driving shall not in any case be presumed or implied
because of such owner's consent on a previous occasion to the taking
or driving of such vehicle by the same or a different person.
No person shall stand in any roadway for the
purpose of or while soliciting a ride from the operator of any private
vehicle.
No motor vehicle shall be operated while having
any person occupying the front seat or seat adjacent to the driver
so as to interfere with the safe operation of the motor vehicle.
Every person operating a motor vehicle on the
public streets or alleys when approaching or about to pass any other
person operating a motor vehicle and traveling in the opposite direction
shall reasonably dim the front headlights on his vehicle so that the
light will not blind that person whom such operator is approaching
and about to pass. The dimmed headlights shall give sufficient illumination
under normal atmospheric conditions and on a level road to render
clearly discernible a person 75 feet ahead.
A.
In the event any motor vehicle or other obstruction
shall be parked or placed along or upon any street, alley or way within
the Town in violation of any Town ordinance or state statute, and
the owner or operator thereof shall neglect or refuse to remove such
vehicle or cannot be found within the immediate vicinity of such vehicle
or obstruction, the Police Department shall cause the vehicle to be
moved to and impounded in some convenient garage or other facility
within the Town; and before the same shall be released therefrom,
the owner thereof shall pay to such garage keeper or other storehouse
keeper a reasonable compensation for the storage of such motor vehicle
or other obstruction.
B.
This section shall not be construed in any way to
relieve the owner or operator of any such motor vehicle or other obstruction
from any criminal liability arising out of the violation of any other
ordinance of the Town or statute of the state.
A.
No person shall, without the consent of the owner
or person in charge of a vehicle, climb into or upon such vehicle
with the intent to commit any crime, malicious mischief or injury
thereto or, while a vehicle is at rest and unattended, attempt to
manipulate any of the levers, starting crank, or other starting device,
brakes, or other mechanism thereof, or set the vehicle in motion.
B.
This section shall not apply when any such act is
done in an emergency in furtherance of public safety or convenience
or by or under the direction of any officer in the regulation of traffic
or performance of any other official duty.
No person shall operate or permit to be operated
a motor vehicle, licensed or unlicensed, in any public way, in any
public recreational area within the corporate limits of the Town.
This section shall not apply to motor vehicles of the Town, emergency
vehicles, vehicles of concessionaires, vehicles engaged in maintenance,
repair or improvements, including other vehicles authorized by the
Council.
Any person owning any land and premises in the
Town who, either himself or through an occupant or tenant of the premises,
shall plant, place, maintain or allow to be in the limits of any street
any trees, bushes, shrubbery or any other object or thing in such
place or manner as to obstruct the view of operators of vehicles on
approach to an intersecting street shall be guilty of maintaining
a nuisance.
The Town Clerk, in complaint made or upon his/her
view shall notify, in writing, the owner of the premises on which
the nuisance shall be to abate the nuisance within five days from
the date of notification or that the nuisance will be abated at his
expense. The notice shall be sent by registered mail, return receipt
requested, addressed to the owner's last known post office address.
If the owner shall not abate the nuisance within
the time fixed therefor, the Town Clerk shall cause such obstruction
to view to be removed and the nuisance abated. An itemized bill of
the expense incurred, the amount of which shall be collected as other
charges are made collectible if the owner shall fail to pay the amount
of the expense, shall be sent to the owner.
A.
Any person who operates a motor vehicle upon a street
within the Town in a careless or imprudent manner shall be guilty
of careless driving.
B.
“Careless driving" shall mean the operation
of a motor vehicle by any person upon a street within the Town in
a careless or imprudent manner or without due regard for road, weather
or traffic conditions then existing.
A.
Any person who operates a motor vehicle upon a street
within the Town in an inattentive manner shall be deemed guilty of
inattentive driving.
B.
"Inattentive driving" shall mean the operation of
a motor vehicle by any person upon a street by failing to give full-time
attention to the operation of the motor vehicle or by failing to maintain
the proper lookout.
Any person who drives any vehicle in willful
or wanton disregard of the safety of persons or property shall be
deemed guilty of reckless driving.
No person shall drive, steer, or operate any
vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or narcotic
drugs.
A.
The Chief of Police shall have prepared proper books
and records upon which shall be entered all violations of this article
and the penalties imposed and collected by the Town Police. Proper
records shall be kept at all times which shall disclose all violations
of this article and the penalty imposed and collected therefor.
B.
The Town Police shall cause to be given to every person
paying to the Town Police a fine for violating this article a receipt
therefor.
Except when overtaking a passing another vehicle
upon any street within the Town, all vehicles shall be operated upon
the right-hand portion of any such street.
[Amended 6-7-1993]
A.
Motor vehicles may be operated in either direction
upon all streets within the Town, except in the following areas:
(1)
Prettyman Street: one-way from Federal Street to Chestnut
Street;
(2)
Coulter Street: one-way from Chestnut Street to Federal
Street;
(3)
Broad Street: one-way from Union Street to Mulberry
Street;
(4)
Mill Street: one-way between Federal Street to Chestnut
Street;
(5)
Tilney Street: one-way from Mulberry Street to Union
Street;
(6)
Orchard Street: one-way from Union Street to Mulberry
Street.
B.
The reason for these one-way streets is because they
are narrow and/or blind intersections. They are for the safety of
vehicle operators and passengers.
[Amended 9-1994]
No person while operating any motor vehicle, vehicle or bicycle,
or combination of motor vehicles, vehicles or bicycles, upon or along
the streets, roadways or parking spaces within the Town at any time
shall play any radio, stereo system, tape player, compact disc player
or any musical instrument or device for the production of sound, whether
installed by the manufacturer of said vehicle or otherwise, or carried
separately in or upon the vehicle, in such manner or with such volume
as to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of a reasonable
person of normal sensitivities or at a louder volume than is necessary
for the convenient hearing of the operator and/or passenger(s) of
said vehicle. This prohibition shall include under any conditions
of acceleration, deceleration or idling of said vehicle or whether
or not in motion and whether or not the engine of said vehicle is
running.
Any person violating any provisions of this article shall, upon
conviction, pay a fine of not less than $10 for the first offense
and shall pay the costs of prosecution. For each subsequent offense,
he shall be fined not less than $25 nor more than $100 and shall pay
the costs of prosecution. All second offenses before being punishable
as such shall have been committed within 12 months after commission
of the first offense.
A.
The operator of a vehicle approaching an intersection
shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle which has entered the intersection.
When two vehicles enter an intersection at the same time, the operator
of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle
on the right.
B.
The operator of a vehicle within an intersection intending
to turn to the left across the path of any vehicle approaching from
the opposite direction may make such left turn only after giving a
signal as required by law and after affording a reasonable opportunity
to the operator of such other vehicle to avoid a collision.
C.
The driver of any vehicle upon a highway within a
business or residential district shall yield the right-of-way to a
pedestrian crossing such highway within any clearly marked crosswalk
or any regular pedestrian crossing included in the prolongation of
the lateral boundary lines of the adjacent sidewalk at the end of
a block, except at intersections where the movement of traffic is
being regulated by traffic officers or traffic direction devices.
Every pedestrian crossing a highway within a business or residential
district at any point other than a pedestrian within a business crosswalk
or intersection shall yield the right-of-way to vehicles upon the
highway.
Any driver shall at the command of a uniformed
police officer bring his vehicle to a full stop, and shall not proceed
again until receiving a signal to do so from such officer.
No person shall drive or move, nor shall any
person being the owner of a motor vehicle knowingly permit to be driven
or moved upon any street, within the corporate limits of the Town,
any motor vehicle which has not been registered and for which current
registration plates have not been issued by the Motor Vehicle Department
of the State of Delaware; provided, however, that when an application
has been made to the Motor Vehicle Department of the State of Delaware
for registration and certificate of title for a vehicle, the same
may be operated temporarily pending complete registration upon displaying
a duplicate application duly verified or other evidence of such application
pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the Department of
Motor Vehicles of the State of Delaware.
A.
No person shall drive a motor vehicle upon any street
within the corporate limits of the Town without having been licensed
as an operator or chauffeur pursuant to the laws of the State of Delaware
or pursuant to the laws of the home state or county of the operator.
B.
No person whose operator's or chauffeur's license
or driving privileges have been suspended or revoked pursuant to the
Laws of the State of Delaware, shall drive any motor vehicle upon
any street within the corporate limits of the Town during the period
of suspension or revocation.
