pa45302

Act No. 453

Public Acts of 2002

Approved by the Governor

June 21, 2002

Filed with the Secretary of State

June 21, 2002

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 21, 2002

STATE OF MICHIGAN

91ST LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2002

Introduced by Senator North

ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 1124

AN ACT to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled "An act to provide for the registration, titling, sale, transfer, and regulation of certain vehicles operated upon the public highways of this state or any other place open to the general public or generally accessible to motor vehicles and distressed vehicles; to provide for the licensing of dealers; to provide for the examination, licensing, and control of operators and chauffeurs; to provide for the giving of proof of financial responsibility and security by owners and operators of vehicles; to provide for the imposition, levy, and collection of specific taxes on vehicles, and the levy and collection of sales and use taxes, license fees, and permit fees; to provide for the regulation and use of streets and highways; to create certain funds; to provide penalties and sanctions for a violation of this act; to provide for civil liability of owners and operators of vehicles and service of process on residents and nonresidents; to provide for the levy of certain assessments; to provide for the enforcement of this act; to provide for the creation of and to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state and local agencies; to impose liability upon the state or local agencies; to repeal all other acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act or contrary to this act; and to repeal certain parts of this act on a specific date," by amending sections 717 and 719 (MCL 257.717 and 257.719), section 717 as amended by 2000 PA 7 and section 719 as amended by 2002 PA 78.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 717. (1) The total outside width of a vehicle or the load on a vehicle shall not exceed 96 inches, except as otherwise provided in this section.

(2) A person may operate or move an implement of husbandry of any width on a highway as required, designed, and intended for farming operations, including the movement of implements of husbandry being driven or towed and not hauled on a trailer, without obtaining a special permit for an excessively wide vehicle or load under section 725. The operation or movement of the implement of husbandry shall be in a manner so as to minimize the interruption of traffic flow. A person shall not operate or move an implement of husbandry to the left of the center of the roadway from a half hour after sunset to a half hour before sunrise, under the conditions specified in section 639, or at any time visibility is substantially diminished due to weather conditions. A person operating or moving an implement of husbandry shall follow all traffic regulations.

(3) The total outside width of the load of a vehicle hauling concrete pipe, agricultural products, or unprocessed logs, pulpwood, or wood bolts shall not exceed 108 inches.

(4) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (5) and this subsection, if a vehicle that is equipped with pneumatic tires is operated on a highway, the maximum width from the outside of 1 wheel and tire to the outside of the opposite wheel and tire shall not exceed 102 inches, and the outside width of the body of the vehicle or the load on the vehicle shall not exceed 96 inches. However, a truck and trailer or a tractor and semitrailer combination hauling pulpwood or unprocessed logs may be operated with a maximum width of not to exceed 108 inches in accordance with a special permit issued under section 725.

(5) The total outside body width of a bus, a trailer coach, a truck camper, or a motor home shall not exceed 102 inches. However, an appurtenance of a trailer coach, a truck camper, or a motor home that extends not more than 6 inches beyond the total outside body width is not a violation of this section.

(6) A vehicle shall not extend beyond the center line of a state trunk line highway except when authorized by law. Except as provided in subsection (2), if the width of the vehicle makes it impossible to stay away from the center line, a permit shall be obtained under section 725.

(7) The director of the state transportation department, a county road commission, or a local authority may designate a highway under the agency's jurisdiction as a highway on which a person may operate a vehicle or vehicle combination that is not more than 102 inches in width, including load, the operation of which would otherwise be prohibited by this section. The agency making the designation may require that the owner or lessee of the vehicle or of each vehicle in the vehicle combination secure a permit before operating the vehicle or vehicle combination. This subsection does not restrict the issuance of a special permit under section 725 for the operation of a vehicle or vehicle combination. This subsection does not permit the operation of a vehicle or vehicle combination described in section 722a carrying a load described in that section if the operation would otherwise result in a violation of that section.

(8) A person who violates this section is responsible for a civil infraction. The owner of the vehicle may be charged with a violation of this section.

Sec. 719. (1) A vehicle unloaded or with load shall not exceed a height of 13 feet 6 inches. The owner of a vehicle that collides with a lawfully established bridge or viaduct is liable for all damage and injury resulting from a collision caused by the height of the vehicle, whether the clearance of the bridge or viaduct is posted or not.

(2) Lengths described in this subsection shall be known as the normal length maximum. Except as provided in subsection (3), the following vehicles and combinations of vehicles shall not be operated on a highway in this state in excess of these lengths:

(a) Any single vehicle: 40 feet; any single bus or motor home: 45 feet.

(b) Articulated buses: 65 feet.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a combination of a truck and semitrailer or trailer, or a truck tractor, semitrailer, and trailer, or truck tractor and semitrailer or trailer, designed and used exclusively to transport assembled motor vehicles or bodies, recreational vehicles, or boats, that does not exceed a length of 65 feet. Stinger-steered combinations shall not exceed a length of 75 feet. The load on the combinations of vehicles described in this subdivision may extend an additional 3 feet beyond the front and 4 feet beyond the rear of the combinations of vehicles. Retractable extensions used to support and secure the load that do not extend beyond the allowable overhang for the front and rear shall not be included in determining length of a loaded vehicle or vehicle combination.

(d) Truck tractor and semitrailer combinations: no overall length, the semitrailer not to exceed 50 feet.

(e) Truck and semitrailer or trailer: 59 feet.

(f) Truck tractor, semitrailer, and trailer, or truck tractor and 2 semitrailers: 59 feet.

(g) More than 1 motor vehicle, wholly or partially assembled, in combination, utilizing 1 tow bar or 3 saddle mounts with full mount mechanisms and utilizing the motive power of 1 of the vehicles in combination, not to exceed 55 feet.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), the following vehicles and combinations of vehicles shall not be operated on a designated highway of this state in excess of these lengths:

(a) Truck tractor and semitrailer combinations: no overall length limit, the semitrailer not to exceed 53 feet. All semitrailers longer than 50 feet shall have a wheelbase of 37.5 to 40.5 feet plus or minus 0.5 feet, measured from the kingpin coupling to the center of the rear axle or the center of the rear axle assembly. Before April 1, 2003, a semitrailer with a length longer than 50 feet shall not operate with more than 2 axles on the semitrailer. After March 31, 2003, a semitrailer with a length longer than 50 feet shall not operate with more than 3 axles on the semitrailer. City, village, or county authorities may prohibit stops of vehicles with a semitrailer longer than 50 feet within their jurisdiction unless the stop occurs along appropriately designated routes, or is necessary for emergency purposes or to reach shippers, receivers, warehouses, and terminals along designated routes.

(b) Truck and semitrailer or trailer combinations: 65 feet, except that a person may operate a truck and semitrailer or trailer designed and used to transport saw logs, pulpwood, and tree length poles that does not exceed an overall length of 70 feet. A person may operate a truck tractor and semitrailer designed and used to transport saw logs, pulpwood, and tree length wooden poles with a load overhang to the rear of the semitrailer which does not exceed 6 feet if the semitrailer does not exceed 50 feet in length.

(c) Truck tractor and 2 semitrailers, or truck tractor, semitrailer, and trailer combinations: no overall length limit, if the length of each semitrailer or trailer does not exceed 28-1/2 feet each, or the overall length of the semitrailer and trailer, or 2 semitrailers as measured from the front of the first towed unit to the rear of the second towed unit while the units are coupled together does not exceed 58 feet.

(d) More than 1 motor vehicle, wholly or partially assembled, in combination, utilizing 1 tow bar or 3 saddle mounts with full mount mechanisms and utilizing the motive power of 1 of the vehicles in combination, not to exceed 75 feet.

(4) The following combinations and movements are prohibited:

(a) A truck shall not haul more than 1 trailer or semitrailer, and a truck tractor shall not haul more than 2 semitrailers or 1 semitrailer and 1 trailer in combination at any 1 time, except that a farm tractor may haul 2 wagons or trailers, or garbage and refuse haulers may, during daylight hours, haul up to 4 trailers for garbage and refuse collection purposes, not exceeding in any combination a total length of 55 feet and at a speed limit not to exceed 15 miles per hour.

(b) A combination of vehicles or a vehicle shall not have more than 11 axles, except when operating under a valid permit issued by the state transportation department or a local authority with respect to a highway under its jurisdiction.

(d) A combination of 2 semitrailers pulled by a truck tractor, unless each semitrailer uses a fifth wheel connecting assembly which conforms to the requirements of the motor carrier safety act of 1963, 1963 PA 181, MCL 480.11 to 480.22.

(e) A vehicle or a combination of vehicles shall not carry a load extending more than 3 feet beyond the front of the lead vehicle.

(f) A vehicle described in subsections (2)(e) and (3)(d) employing triple saddle mounts unless all wheels that are in contact with the roadway have operating brakes.

(5) All combinations of vehicles under this section shall employ connecting assemblies and lighting devices that are in compliance with the motor carrier safety act of 1963, 1963 PA 181, MCL 480.11 to 480.22.

(6) The total gross weight of a truck tractor, semitrailer, and trailer combination or a truck tractor and 2 semitrailers combination that exceeds 59 feet in length shall not exceed a ratio of 400 pounds per engine net horsepower delivered to clutch or its equivalent specified in the handbook published by the society of automotive engineers, inc. (SAE), 1977 edition.

(7) A person who violates this section is responsible for a civil infraction. The owner of the vehicle may be charged with a violation of this section.

(8) As used in this section:

(a) "Designated highway" means a highway approved by the state transportation department or a local authority with respect to a highway under its jurisdiction.

(b) "Length" means the total length of a vehicle, or combination of vehicles, including any load the vehicle is carrying. Length does not include safety and energy conservation devices including, but not limited to, impact absorbing bumpers, rear view mirrors, turn signal lamps, marker lamps, steps and hand holds for entry and egress, flexible fender extensions, mud flaps, or splash and spray suppressant devices; load induced tire bulge; refrigeration or heating units; or air compressors attached to the vehicle. A safety or energy conservation device shall be excluded from a determination of length only if it is not designed or used for the carrying of cargo, freight, or equipment. Semitrailers and trailers shall be measured from the front vertical plane of the foremost transverse load supporting structure to the rearmost transverse load supporting structure.

(c) "Stinger-steered combinations" means a truck tractor and semitrailer combination in which the fifth wheel is located on a drop frame located behind and below the rearmost axle of the power unit.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Secretary of the Senate.

Clerk of the House of Representatives.

Approved

Governor.