This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Town of Bethel, Maine, Traffic Ordinance."
This chapter is adopted pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A.
§ 3009 and 29-A M.R.S.A. § 557.
This chapter is designed to update existing
parking and traffic regulations, thereby allowing control over vehicle
use in Bethel, Maine.
The Select Board of Bethel, Maine, shall maintain
in said Town suitable parking signs and markings indicating time,
manner and place of parking motor vehicles in accordance with this
chapter and such additional signs and markings as it may deem necessary
to control and direct traffic and parking within the municipal boundaries.
Parking and traffic ordinances and regulations adopted prior to the
date of enactment of this chapter are hereby repealed and superseded
by this chapter. In addition, provision is made to prevent damage
to Town ways and bridges which may be caused by vehicles of excessive
weight, to lessen safety hazards and the risk of injury to the traveling
public, to extend the life expectancy of Town ways and bridges, and
to reduce the public expense of their maintenance and repair.
The following words and phrases when used in
this chapter shall, for the purpose of this chapter, have the meanings
respectively ascribed to them in this section. Whenever any words
and phrases used in this chapter are not defined herein but are defined
in the laws of Maine regarding the operation of vehicles, then such
definition shall be deemed to apply to such words and phrases used
herein. Any words not explicitly defined shall be given their common
and ordinary meaning.
AUTHORIZED EMERGENCY VEHICLE
Vehicles of the Fire Department, police vehicles, ambulances
and such emergency vehicles of municipal departments or public service
corporations as are designated or authorized by the Police Chief. A privately owned vehicle commandeered by the Fire or
Police Chief or owned or used by a firefighter, police officer, or
ambulance attendant shall have the same status under this chapter
as a publicly owned authorized emergency vehicle while actually engaged
in or responding to a call for public emergency service.
[Amended 6-12-2024 ATM
by Art. 12]
BUSINESS OR RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT
The territory in the Town of Bethel contiguous to any way
which is built up with structures which are situated less than 150
feet apart for a distance of 1/4 of a mile. (State law reference:
For similar provisions, see 29-A M.R.S.A. § 101, Subsection
12.)
CROSSWALK
A.
The part of a roadway at an intersection included
within the connections of the lateral lines of the sidewalks on opposite
sides of the highway measured from the curbs, or in the roadway.
B.
Any portion of a roadway at an intersection
or elsewhere distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines
or other markings on the surface.
DRIVER
Every person who drives or is in actual physical control
of a vehicle.
INTERSECTION
The area embraced within the prolongation or connection of
the lateral curblines or, if none, then the lateral boundary lines
of the roadways of two highways, or the area within which vehicles
traveling upon different highways joining at any other angle may come
in conflict.
MOTOR VEHICLE
Every vehicle which is self-propelled and not operated exclusively
on tracks, including motorcycles.
PARK
When prohibited, means the standing of a vehicle, whether
occupied or not, otherwise than temporarily for the purpose of and
while actually engaged in loading or unloading.
POLICE OFFICER
Every officer of the Bethel Police Department, the Oxford County Sheriff's Department, the Maine State
Police, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (Warden Service)
and the Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations and any
other state, county and/or municipal law enforcement officer authorized
to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violation of
traffic regulations within the State of Maine.
[Amended 6-11-2003; 6-12-2024 ATM by Art. 12]
PRIVATE ROAD OR DRIVEWAY
Every way or place in private ownership and use for vehicular
travel by the owner and those having express or implied permission
from the owner but not by other persons. (State law reference: For
similar definition, see 29-A M.R.S.A. § 101, Subsection
58.)
RIGHT-OF-WAY
The privilege of the immediate use of the roadway.
ROADWAY
The portion of a street or highway improved, designated,
or ordinarily used for vehicular travel.
SIDEWALK
That portion of a street between the curblines, or the lateral
lines of a roadway, and the adjacent property lines intended for the
use of pedestrians.
SOLIDLY FROZEN
In respect to road surface and bed, shall mean the air temperature
is below 32º F. and there is not visible water on the road or
in the cracks of the road and there is not visible sheen of moisture
rising through the pavement or gravel surface of the road. Water or
moisture on the road which has been caused by the placement of winter
sand or salt shall not be considered in this instance.
STOP
When requested, means complete cessation of movement.
STOP, STOPPING or STANDING
When prohibited, means any stopping or standing of a vehicle,
whether occupied or not, except when necessary to avoid conflict with
other traffic or in compliance with the direction of a police officer
or traffic control sign or signal.
STREET or 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.
THROUGH STREET
Every street or portion thereof at the entrance to which
vehicular traffic from intersecting streets or highways is required
by law to stop before entering or crossing the same and when stop
signs are erected as provided in this chapter.
TRAFFIC
Pedestrians, ridden animals, vehicles, and other conveyances,
either singly or together, while using any street for purposes of
travel.
VEHICLE
Every device in, upon, or by which any person or property
is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except devices moved
by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
The Chief of Police, by and with the approval of the Select Board, is hereby
empowered to make and enforce temporary regulations to cover emergencies
and special conditions.
Officers of the Police Department are hereby authorized to direct all traffic by voice,
hand or signal in conformance with traffic laws, provided that in
the event of a fire or other emergency or to expedite traffic or to
safeguard pedestrians, officers of the Police Department may direct
traffic as conditions may require notwithstanding the provisions of
this chapter. Members of the Fire Department, when at the scene of
a fire or when so directed by a police officer, may direct or assist
the police in directing traffic.
No person shall willfully fail or refuse to
comply with any order or direction of a police officer or Fire Department
member who is engaged in enforcing the provisions of this chapter.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to
the driver of any vehicle owned by or used in the service of the United
States government, this state, county or Town, and it shall be unlawful
for such driver to violate any of the provisions of this chapter,
except as otherwise permitted herein or by state or federal statute.
Every person propelling any pushcart or riding
any animal upon a roadway, and every person driving any animal-driven
vehicle, shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter, excepting
those provisions which by their nature can have no application.
All bicycles and mopeds shall be operated in
accordance with 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2063 and the provisions
of this chapter, excepting those provisions which by their nature
can have no application. No bicycles or mopeds shall be ridden on
any sidewalk.
The Police Chief, with the approval of the Select Board, shall place and
maintain or cause to be placed or maintained traffic control signs
and devices when and as required or authorized under this chapter.
Any police officer may place and maintain such additional traffic
control devices as he may deem necessary to regulate traffic in emergency
situations.
All signs required or authorized by this chapter
shall, so far as practical, be uniform as to type and location throughout
the Town. All traffic control devices so erected and not inconsistent
with state law or this chapter shall be official traffic control devices.
The driver of any vehicle shall obey the instructions
of any official traffic control device applicable thereto placed in
accordance with this chapter, unless otherwise directed by a police
officer, subject to the exceptions granted to the driver of an authorized
emergency vehicle in this chapter. No provisions of this chapter for
which signs are required shall be enforced against an alleged violator
if at the time and place of the alleged violation an official sign
(as designated by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices) is
not sufficiently legible to be seen by an ordinarily observant person.