Brakes

189.090 Brakes

(1) No owner shall knowingly operate or permit to be operated on a highway a motor
vehicle upon which the brakes are defective.
(2) Every motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, when operated upon a highway shall
be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of and to stop and hold
the vehicle. There shall be 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. If the
two (2) separate means are connected in any way, they shall be so constructed 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.
(3) (a) The service brakes upon any motor vehicle or combination of vehicles shall be
adequate to stop the vehicle when traveling twenty (20) miles per hour within
a distance of thirty (30) feet when upon dry asphalt or concrete pavement
surface free from loose material where the grade does not exceed one percent
(1%).
(b) Under the conditions described in subsection (3)(a) the hand brake shall be
adequate to stop the vehicle within a distance of fifty-five (55) feet and the
hand brake shall be adequate to hold the vehicle stationary on any grade upon
which it is operated.
(c) Under the conditions described in subsection (3)(a) the service brakes upon a
motor vehicle equipped with two (2)-wheel brakes only shall be adequate to
stop the vehicle within a distance of forty (40) feet and the hand brake
adequate to stop the vehicle within a distance of fifty-five (55) feet.
(d) All braking distances specified in this section shall apply whether or not the
vehicles are loaded to the maximum capacity permitted by law.
(e) All brakes shall be maintained in good working order and shall be so adjusted
as to operate with equal effect with respect to the wheels on opposite sides of
the vehicle.
(4) No person shall operate any semitrailer or semitrailer-trailer combination or truck
trailer combination or truck semitrailer combination on any highway in this state
unless it is equipped with efficient brakes that may be operated by the operator of
the truck or tractor to which the semitrailer or semitrailer-trailer is attached.
History: Amended 1976 Ky. Acts ch. 173, sec. 2. -- Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208,
sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. secs. 2739g-26, 2739g-88.

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