2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 69. Public Utilities and Carriers › Chapter 14. Railroads › Part 12. Railroad Vandalism Prevention Act › 69-14-1203. Definitions

69-14-1203. Definitions.
As used in this part, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Bodily injury" means:
(a) a cut, abrasion, bruise, burn, or disfigurement;
(b) physical pain;
(c) illness;
(d) impairment of the function of or loss of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty; or
(e) any other injury to the body, no matter how temporary.
(2) "Enter railroad property" includes but is not limited to performing vandalism or other unlawful activity on railroad property.
(3) (a) "Railroad" means any form of nonhighway ground transportation that runs on rails or electromagnetic guideways.
(b) Railroad does not include rapid transit operations in an urban area that are not connected to the general railroad system of transportation.
(4) "Railroad carrier" means an entity that provides rail transportation.
(5) (a) "Railroad property" means all tangible real and personal property owned, leased, or operated by a railroad carrier, including a right-of-way, track, bridge, yard, shop, station, tunnel, viaduct, trestle, depot, warehouse, terminal, railroad signal system, train control system, centralized dispatching system, or any other structure, appurtenance, or equipment owned, leased, or used in the operation of any railroad carrier, including a train, locomotive, engine, railroad car, work equipment, rolling stock, or safety device.
(b) Railroad property does not include a railroad carrier's administrative buildings or offices, office equipment, or intangible property such as computer software or other information.
(6) "Right-of-way" means the track or roadbed owned, leased, or operated by a railroad carrier that is located on either side of its tracks and that is readily recognizable to a reasonable person as being railroad property or is reasonably identified as railroad property by fencing or appropriate signs.
(7) "Serious bodily injury" means bodily injury that involves:
(a) a substantial risk of death;
(b) extreme physical pain;
(c) protracted and obvious disfigurement; or
(d) protracted impairment of the function of or loss of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.
(8) "Vandalism to railroad property" means committing an act that may cause damage to railroad property or bodily injury to another person. This includes but is not limited to:
(a) taking, removing, defacing, altering, marking with graffiti, or otherwise marking a railroad sign, placard, or marker;
(b) throwing a rock, baseball, or other dangerous object at a locomotive, railroad car, or train;
(c) dropping a brick or other dangerous object from a bridge or other overpass onto a railroad right-of-way;
(d) shooting a firearm or other dangerous weapon at a locomotive, railroad car, or train;
(e) removing appurtenances from, damaging, or otherwise impairing the operation of any railroad signal system, including a train control system, centralized dispatching system, or highway-railroad grade crossing warning signal on a railroad owned, leased, or operated by a railroad carrier, without consent of the railroad carrier;
(f) interfering or tampering with or obstructing in any way any switch, frog, rail, roadbed, sleeper, viaduct, bridge, trestle, culvert, embankment, structure, or appliance pertaining to or connected with any railroad carrier, without consent of the railroad carrier; or
(g) taking, stealing, removing, changing, adding to, altering, or in any manner interfering with any journal bearing, brass, waste, packing, triple valve, pressure cock, brake, air hose, or any other part of the operating mechanism of any locomotive, engine, tender, coach, car, caboose, or motor car used or capable of being used by any railroad carrier, without the consent of the railroad carrier.
(9) "Yard" means a system of parallel tracks, crossovers, and switches where railroad cars are switched and made up into trains and where railroad cars, locomotives, and other rolling stock are kept when not in use or when awaiting repairs.
History: En. Sec. 3, Ch. 432, L. 2001.