Has anyone ever had their RV rig weighed or measured by DOT enforcement?

[Bob Cochran]

Thanks did not want to get this to far off course. In Arizona all vehicles rated 1 ton or more is required to be registered commercial including my HDT. So in theory I have a commercial drivers license and the truck is registered like a 1 ton pickup would be commercially. As far as being put out of service; I would think as long as it was not a question of the combination a possible threat to public safety he would not shut you down. Example, it would not be like say brake problem, etc. Granted along the side of the road the LEO can do about anything and your only recourse is the Judge.

 

Back to the OP I have never been stopped for over length or over weight.

[DuffMan]

Granted along the side of the road the LEO can do about anything and your only recourse is the Judge.

 

Why not ask for a supervisor if you disagree with the LEO's actions? You can always call 911 if the LEO refuses to call in a supervisor. Advantage is that everything from that point on is recorded and most supervisors are realistic and will go by the book.

 

Also dual camera dash cams with one pointed out the drivers window do wonders at capturing everything going on and said.

[Big5er]

Well Duff, calling 911 for a supervisor that is 1) an abuse of the 911 system and could be considered illegal and 2) usually a big waste of time. Call their non emergency dispatch number and not 911. You not agreeing with the officer is NOT an emergency. Also disagreeing with the officers actions is what the court system is for, not the side of the road. Arguing on the side of the road will get you nowhere. Don't wanna sign the citation? Fine, you can go to jail for refusing to sign a citation, or he can just dump it in your lap with "refused to sign" on the signature line. IMHO, very poor advice.

 

I work for the 2nd largest Sheriff's office in the country. There are 9 of us plus a sergeant trained to do what I do. Wanna talk to my supervisor? Good luck. He usually works a different shift than I do and usually on the other side of a county that is roughly the size of Rhode Island. I'm not waiting for him, even if he is working. You can, if you want and a district supervisor will show up and tell you to call my sergeant tomorrow.

 

And record all you want. My dash cam and body mic runs the entire time my lights are on. I record all the stupid stuff violators say and do. I find the morons waving cell phones around fairly humorous.

[DuffMan]

Big5er

 

I was suggesting a supervisor (Not necessarily the LEO's) (OK call it a Sargent) when the LEO was requiring something clearly he was not authorized to do. Say, as you pointed out, the stopping LEO was not allowing you to move your rig until it was shortened. i.e. you driving alone and not willing or able to abandon your toad. In those situations awaiting a judge is far from a viable remedy.

 

My object was to get someone with authority to allow you to be on your way, albeit with a ticket.

 

Researching the local non-emergency number for the agency employing the officer while in the middle of a traffic stop is not really practical. Calling 911 to appeal improper orders while being improperly detained by an LEO and requesting someone with authority for a remedy is hardly an abuse of the 911 system.

 

Calling 911 is a universal method of getting to someone with local authority and can be done quickly and via voice dial so as not to be seen as reaching for any hidden object. (All I have to say is "OK Garmin" "Dial Phone" and the number while my hands remain on the steering wheel.)

 

What would you suggest someone do if an LEO was refusing to allow you to move your rig until you complied with his improper directions?

[PEIFamily]

I need to create a fake measuring tape, a 13" foot, so a 70' setup would show 65' on your "special, here Officer, I have a tape right here, let's measure it together"..

[Bill & Janet Adams]

I did not mean to offend you Big5er. Who knew it was a cop who was asking what to do when he was not towing within the law and was not interested in real world experience. I understand there is a difference between class A towing and 5th wheel towing but the legal limits are the same.

[noteven]

HHHMMMm I am wondering. I am currently at 67 feet so lets say I am stopped and measured. Since I have a full blown Class A CDL(even though I don't keep log books have to get one, etc) rather than having to get a driver licensed to tow this I would be able to do so. Though I would probably be ticketed, forced to get and over length permit(even though I don't think you can because it is a RV, that would be interesting). I guess would depend on LEO and State laws where you where stopped.

 

Sorry to the OP but his question brought this to mind for those of us that have a real class A CDL which I don't think are to many. What think everyone? Oh I have nevber been stopped just looked at a few times.

 

I have sketched a rig that measures around 67ft like Bob Cochran's. I have a shorter looking paint scheme in mind. I will be getting a sign for the back door of the toy hauler "Vehicle length 64 ft 10 in pass with care"... or maybe just say 19.76 meters ... sounds shorter yet...

 

Thanks for the replies so far. Interesting discussion.

[Jack Mayer]

CA is a place to stay away from if you are using an HDT. ANY HDT, IMO. It is not a generally friendly place from a governmental perspective - again, IMO. Great landscape, though. Personally, I don't go there, but that is not possible for everyone (esp. if you live there).

 

I do know a person that was stopped in CA for towing doubles (with an MDT) and was allowed to proceed without a ticket. In that case it was recreational doubles and the person happened to have a CDL with a multi-trailer endorsement on it. The LEO was a CHP and he let him proceed with a verbal warning "don't do that". But that was a discretionary thing....he WAS overlength for recreational. But clearly not a hazard. I would not count on that, for sure.

 

I have also heard of the same thing Bill alludes to - large class A's being hit near the border. I know of one instance where three people travelling together were all stopped and all forced to break up. None received tickets. One got a warning on the RV length. It was 45' 1" according to the person....and that was back before 45' was allowed. Likely a mis-measure.....

[Nuke-E]

It's also a good idea when you're driving in states that aren't part of the NRVC (which includes California) to carry a couple hundred bucks or so in cash. I don't know about CA in particular, but two of the others (WI and MI) will often require a cash bond (usually for the amount of the citation) before letting you back on the road. Giving the officer cash would be incredibly shady in most other places, but that's how they make sure you address the citation. Obviously, make sure you also get a receipt in one of those situations. If you don't have the cash, you may be required to make a trip to the police station or courthouse, hoping that it'll be open.

[Jack Mayer]

Does it really work that way? You hand the copp money at the roadside? Man, that would make me nervous.....

 

Now, back "in the day" I've handed some GA cops some $$ at their "suggestion" so that my being a "hippie" would not affect my continued passage through their fine state. But I knew what was going on there.....I was contributing to the "donut fund".

[Nuke-E]

Yep. A guy I used to work with got stopped for speeding a couple of summers ago on his way to a wedding in a rural part of the northern LP. They had to scramble a bit--I think one of the kids had to contribute--to get the officer $100. It was noted in a pre-printed spot on the ticket.

 

There are a few places where patrol cars are set up with credit card machines too. Makes you wonder if it's really safety they're looking for...

 

The reverse also applies if you're from one of those states and you're traveling. It's less likely in most of the country that you'll have a problem (e.g. the fraction of California drivers stopped in say Alabama would be pretty small so they're not as likely to realize California's not a Compact member), but certain neighboring states such as Indiana know what they're dealing with, particularly .

[Big5er]

Nuke is on the mark. I have heard of some states requiring a "bond" from out of staters. If they would simply join the NRVC (Non-resident violator compact) then that would solve their issue. Michigan, Wisconsin, California, Oregon, and Alaska are NOT members, so who knows how they will handle out of state violators.

Duff, I would recommend calling 411 (information) and asking for the local number. It will work anywhere 911 will.
911 is for emergencies, and requesting a supervisor is not.

[Phil D]

There are a few places where patrol cars are set up with credit card machines too. Makes you wonder if it's really safety they're looking for.

.

Ohio has had credit card machines in their Highway Patrol cruisers since at least 1976. I can personally attest to this, even though I was not the driver involved.

 

The fellow that I was riding home with from mid-Michigan to southwestern Pennsylvania for the weekend got stopped for speeding on the Ohio Turnpike. The ticket was $38, and like a couple of typical stupid college students, neither one of us had a credit card, which would have taken care of the ticket on the spot and allowed "Smokey" to let us go on our way, and we'd left on our 460 mile journey with enough cash in our pockets for gas and tolls, but we didn't have the princely sum of $38 between us, even if we'd been willing to stay off of the turnpikes and take the "back roads" home. I did have one of those then "newfangled" ATM cards in my wallet (combined ATM/Debit cards, which would have worked in Smokey's credit card machine, hadn't yet appeared on the scene), but in October of 1976, none of the banks (assuming that there was more than one) in the little Podunk town just off of the nearest turnpike exit had an ATM yet.

[Big5er]

So, does that mean you are a fugitive from justice Phil? Or just a fugitive from Ohio?

[Nuke-E]

Not knowing how fast he was going, he may very well have been going a speed that's now legal...the turnpike is now posted at 70, including for trucks.

 

Of course, back then Ohio wasn't a member of the NRVC--they didn't join until 1985. Until very recently, I've always thought of Ohio as a special case in terms of traffic enforcement. Very visible, with a reputation that imposed on leadfoots (leadfeet?) everywhere, but very professional and matter-of-fact. If you read about the Cannonball Runs in the 70s, there were a number of competitors that took I-81 all the way to Knoxville, adding a lot of distance, just because it meant that they wouldn't have to risk it in Ohio. But the number of tickets issued there is down overall since the statewide increase to 70, which was shortly after doing away with the 55 mph limit for vehicles over 8,000 lbs on the interstate system there.

 

$38 would be a bargain today if it included court costs; the latter usually being much more costly than the fine. I got stopped in a double-fine zone (not construction, just a road leading to one of the highest-salaried counties in the country) thinking it might be expensive. The fine doubled to $30, but court costs and other fees brought it up to almost $100. Since I would have to pay them anyway, I had my day in court, pleaded my case, and won, while fully admitting going that fast.

[Nuke-E]

Ohio is also one of a very few states where police regularly do this:

 

 

Nothing like staring down the barrel of a gun to slow people down!

[Phil D]

He probably still would have been illegal, even today.

 

The mid-to-late '70s were the heyday of the "double-nickel", and the Ohio Highway Patrol was known back in those days for enforcing it with a vengeance. In that same era in Michigan, on the other hand, you almost had to do something completely stupid to get a speeding ticket from the MSP.

 

When the speed limit was finally raised from 55 MPH to more sensible levels, the OHP seemed to lose interest in enforcement.

[Phil D]

So, does that mean you are a fugitive from justice Phil? Or just a fugitive from Ohio?

 

Hey, I did my time, Phil! Don't even start threatening me with that extradition crap.

 

Since we couldn't pay the fine, the driver had to stay in jail until it was paid. The local (Newton Falls, OH) police department advised us to have someone send them $38 via Western Union, assuring him that when the WU clearing center notified them that the money transfer was pending --typically a two to four hour process -- they'd release him and we'd been on our way. He was so shaken up by the whole deal that I volunteered to spend those two to four hours with him in the cell, so they jailed me along with him as a "transient". Long story short, Western Union mishandled the money order, and we spent the whole night in an unheated holding cell there at the Newton Falls PD. No telling how long we would have been there, had I not demanded to be released after 8 AM, since I wasn't "under arrest", and started calling the kid's relatives and mine. The boy's dad got him released about an hour to hour an hour and a half later, by having his attorney call and assure them that Western Union had received the money the night before, but that he'd drive out (we were about 2 1/2 hours from home) with $38 to bail him out if they didn't believe him, with the caveat that he'd bring a lawsuit with him if he did. He was released shortly after, and as of the time of our departure, they still hadn't heard from Western Union.

 

Needless to say, to this day I'm still tempted to throw stuff at my TV if an ad for Western Union happens to come on.

[Nuke-E]

You might be the first person I've encountered that volunteered to go to jail!

 

Especially with the double-nickel, there's an argument that once you're over (speed limit plus typical enforcement tolerance) it really doesn't matter that much in a lot of places how much you're over. If he'd gotten a ticket, even for 1 mph over, you'd have been in the same exact situation (maybe a few bucks less). Had he been going a little faster, that same smokey might have still been taking the last guy down to the station when you passed through...

[Chad Heiser]

California does not collect cash or any other form of payment in the field. You sign the ticket and you are on your way (for most violations).

[phoenix2013]

If you get stopped and you are over length for an RV you will get a ticket and you will have to reconfigure yourself to a legal limit to proceed. CA has the most complaints filed with various RV clubs and forums. Just keep in mind that just because one or two posters say they have done things considered illegal in some States an they have never been ticketed does not make it legal. You must be willing to accept the risk of the ticket if you choose to take chances.

I agree that ignorance of the law does not make a compelling argument "when you get caught". But after RVing for 42 years, last nine of which included 60,000 miles with an HDT and overlength (in most states) I'm in the camp with those, "I'm 75 feet, never been stopped and I don't sweat the small stuff". It is important for society to have laws and enforce them to maintain peace and order, except in Ferguson.

But there is a huge category of laws which don't address the current conditions (like the existence of HDTs and fifths well over 40 ft long and well over 20K, hence the need for an HDT), or written by overzealous legislators and busybodies, or people with an ax to grind, or frankly written by idiots. Go on Google and you will find examples of thousands of these still on the books all over.

 

Policemen are allowed to bite a dog if they think it will calm the dog down (Paulding, Ohio)

 

It’s against the law for a woman to drive a car in Main Street unless her husband is walking in front of the car waving a red flag (Waynesboro, Virginia)

 

A motorist with criminal intentions must stop at the city limits and telephone the chief of police as he is entering the town (Washington)

 

Frankly, at least for me, it would be a miserable existence to go through life worrying about every bit of idiocy that others are trying to bestow on me.

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

It’s against the law for a woman to drive a car in Main Street unless her husband is walking in front of the car waving a red flag (Waynesboro, Virginia)

 

That one would have been good for an ex-wife of mine...

[Jack Mayer]

Oh, stupid laws are not just like those above......

 

In TX, even today, you cannot have a legal 5th wheel at 101" or a 5th over 40'. There is no registration form for those 5ths. Right Phil's???

[Bob Cochran]

AHHHHH I think i am sorry to the OP for my question it kind of started a storm. Can I take it back?

[noteven]

No apology needed Bob Cochran - still a more interesting discussion than arguing over engine oil...