Section 3. Words and Phrases Defined. — As used in this Act:
"Motor Vehicle" shall mean any vehicle propelled by any power other than muscular power using the public highways, but excepting road rollers, trolley cars, street-sweepers, sprinklers, lawn mowers, bulldozers, graders, fork-lifts, amphibian trucks, and cranes if not used on public highways, vehicles which run only on rails or tracks, and tractors, trailers and traction engines of all kinds used exclusively for agricultural purposes.
Trailers having any number of wheels, when propelled or intended to be propelled by attachment to a motor vehicle, shall be classified as separate motor vehicle with no power rating.
"Passenger automobiles" shall mean all pneumatic-tire vehicles of types similar to those usually known under the following terms: touring car, command car, speedster, sports car, roadster, jeep, cycle car (except motor wheel and similar small outfits which are classified with motorcycles), coupe, landaulet, closed car, limousine, cabriolet, and sedan.
Motor vehicles with changed or rebuilt bodies, such as jeepneys, jitneys, or station wagons, using a chassis of the usual pneumatic-tire passenger automobile type, shall also be classified as passenger automobile, if their net allowable carrying capacity, as determined by the Commissioner of Land Transportation, does not exceed nine passengers and if they are not used primarily for carrying freight or merchandise.
The distinction between "passenger truck" and "passenger automobile" shall be that of common usage: Provided, That a motor vehicle registered for more than nine passengers shall be classified as "truck": And Provided, further, That a "truck with seating compartments at the back not used for hire shall be registered under special "S" classifications. In case of dispute, the Commissioner of Land Transportation shall determine the classification to which any special type of motor vehicle belongs.
"Articulated vehicle" shall mean any motor vehicle with a trailer having no front axle and so attached that part of the trailer rests upon motor vehicle and a substantial part of the weight of the trailer and of its load is borne by the motor vehicle. Such a trailer shall be called as "semi-trailer."
"Driver" shall mean every and any licensed operator of a motor vehicle.
"Professional driver" shall mean every and any driver hired or paid for driving or operating a motor vehicle, whether for private use or for hire to the public.
Any person driving his own motor vehicle for hire is a professional driver.
"Owner" shall mean the actual legal owner of a motor vehicle, in whose name such vehicle is duly registered with the Land Transportation Commission.
The "owner" of a government-owned motor vehicle is the head of the office or the chief of the Bureau to which the said motor vehicle belongs.
"Dealer" shall mean every person, association, partnership, or corporation making, manufacturing, constructing, assembling, remodeling, rebuilding, or setting up motor vehicles; and every such entity acting as agent for the sale of one or more makes, styles, or kinds of motor vehicles, dealing in motor vehicles, keeping the same in stock or selling same or handling with a view to trading same.
"Garage" shall mean any building in which two or more motor vehicles, either with or without drivers, are kept ready for hire to the public, but shall not include street stands, public service stations, or other public places designated by proper authority as parking spaces for motor vehicles for hire while awaiting or soliciting business.
"Gross weight" shall mean the measured weight of a motor vehicle plus the maximum allowable carrying capacity in merchandise, freight and/or passenger, as determined by the Commissioner of Land Transportation.
"Highways" shall mean every public thoroughfare, public boulevard, driveway, avenue, park, alley and callejon, but shall not include roadway upon grounds owned by private persons, colleges, universities, or other similar institutions.
"The Commissioner of Land Transportation or his deputies" shall mean the actual or acting chief of the Land Transportation Commission or such representatives, deputies, or assistants as he may, with the approval of the Secretary of Public Works and Communications, appoint or designate in writing for the purpose contemplated by this Act.
"Parking or parked", for the purposes of this Act, shall mean that a motor vehicle is "parked" or "parking" if it has been brought to a stop on the shoulder or proper edge of a highway, and remains inactive in that place or close thereto for an appreciable period of time. A motor vehicle which properly stops merely to discharge a passenger or to take in a waiting passenger, or to load or unload a small quantity of freight with reasonable dispatch shall not be considered as "parked", if the motor vehicle again moves away without delay.
"Tourist" shall mean a foreigner who travels from place to place for pleasure or culture.