June 2, 2005, Introduced by Reps. Anderson, LaJoy, Moore, Wenke, Nitz, Casperson, Gosselin, David Law, Pavlov, Clack, Plakas, Murphy, Hood, Byrnes, Gleason, Leland and Pearce and referred to the Committee on Transportation.
A bill to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled
"Michigan vehicle code,"
by amending sections 683, 723, and 724 (MCL 257.683, 257.723, and
257.724), section 683 as amended by 2000 PA 97, section 723 as
amended by 2003 PA 152, and section 724 as amended by 2004 PA 420,
and by adding section 312g; and to repeal acts and parts of acts.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 312g. A person shall not transport or require, permit, or
allow to be transported a hazardous material for which a placard is
required under 49 CFR parts 100 to 199 in a commercial motor
vehicle if the operator of the vehicle does not have a hazardous
material endorsement on his or her operator's or chauffeur's
license. A person who violates this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or
a fine of not more than $500.00, or both.
Sec. 683. (1) A person shall not drive or move or the owner
shall not cause or knowingly permit to be driven or moved on a
highway a vehicle or combination of vehicles which is in such an
unsafe condition as to endanger a person, or which does not contain
those parts or is not at all times equipped with lamps and other
equipment in proper condition and adjustment as required in
sections
683 to 714a 714, or which is equipped in a manner in
violation
of sections 683 to 714a 714. A person shall not do an
act forbidden or fail to perform an act required under sections 683
to 714a
714.
(2) A police officer on reasonable grounds shown may stop a
motor vehicle and inspect the motor vehicle, and if a defect in
equipment is found, the officer may issue the driver a citation for
a
violation of a provision of sections 683 to 714a 714.
(3) In order to be classified as a motor carrier enforcement
officer, a police officer must have training equal to the minimum
training requirements, including any annual training updates,
established by the department of state police for an officer of the
motor carrier division of the department of state police. A police
officer who has received training equal to these minimum training
requirements before the effective date of this section is
considered a motor carrier enforcement officer for purposes of this
act.
(4)
Sections 683 to 714a 714 shall not prohibit the use of
additional parts and accessories on a vehicle which are not
inconsistent with those sections.
(5)
The provisions of sections 683 to
714a 714
with respect
to equipment on vehicles shall not apply to implements of
husbandry, road machinery, road rollers, or farm tractors, except
as
specifically provided in sections 683 to 714a 714.
(6) Except as otherwise provided in section 698 or 707d, a
person
who violates a provision of sections 683 to 714a 714
with
respect to equipment on vehicles is responsible for a civil
infraction.
Sec. 723. (1) All motor trucks or truck
tractors, except as
provided
in subsection (4), of more than 5,000 pounds registered
weight
and all towing or platform bed wrecker road service
vehicles in operation upon the public highways of this state shall
have the name, city, and state or the registered logo or emblem of
the registered owner of the vehicle, and lessee of the vehicle if
the vehicle is being operated under lease, painted or permanently
attached
on each side of the cab on a motor truck or truck tractor
vehicle in letters of not less than 3 inches in height, not lower
than
the bottom edge of the door. , except that motor trucks with
closed
van bodies may place the information on each side of the van
body
not lower than the bottom edge of the cab door. This
information shall be in sharp color contrast to the background.
(2) Except for towing or platform bed wrecker road
service
vehicles,
the identification requirements of subsection (1) may be
met
through the use of removable devices which meet the
requirements
of subsection (1). These devices shall be of durable
construction
and securely attached to each side of the motor truck
or
truck tractor. The removable devices shall be attached so that
the
identification is in a horizontal position. A wrecker in
compliance with the identification requirements of the federal
motor carrier safety regulations, 49 CFR parts 390-399, is
considered to be in compliance with this section.
(3)
Motor vehicles subject to this section shall have 2 years
after
the effective date of this subsection to be in compliance
with
the marking location as required in subsection (1).
(4)
This section shall not apply to a truck eligible for and
registered
under a farm or manufacturer license plate.
(3) (5)
A person who violates this section is responsible
for a civil infraction.
Sec. 724. (1) A police officer, a peace officer, or a duly
authorized
agent of the state transportation department or a
county road commission having reason to believe that the weight of
a vehicle and load is unlawful may require the driver to stop and
submit to a weighing of the vehicle by either portable or
stationary scales approved and sealed by the department of
agriculture
as a legal weighing device , and
may require that the
vehicle
be driven to the nearest weighing weigh station of the
state
transportation department for the purpose of allowing an
a
police
officer, peace officer, or agent of
the state
transportation
department or county road commission to determine
whether
the conveyance vehicle is loaded in
conformity with this
chapter.
(2) When the officer or agent, upon weighing a vehicle and
load, determines that the weight is unlawful, the officer or agent
may require the driver to stop the vehicle in a suitable place and
remain standing until that portion of the load is shifted or
removed as necessary to reduce the gross axle load weight of the
vehicle to the limit permitted under this chapter. All material
unloaded as provided under this subsection shall be cared for by
the owner or operator of the vehicle at the risk of the owner or
operator. A judge or magistrate imposing a civil fine and costs
under this section which are not paid in full immediately or for
which a bond is not immediately posted in double the amount of the
civil fine and costs shall order the driver or owner to move the
vehicle at the driver's own risk to a place of safekeeping within
the jurisdiction of the judge or magistrate, inform the judge or
magistrate in writing of the place of safekeeping, and keep the
vehicle until the fine and costs are paid or sufficient bond is
furnished or until the judge or magistrate is satisfied that the
fine and costs will be paid. The officer or agent who has
determined, after weighing a vehicle and load, that the weight is
unlawful, may require the driver to proceed to a judge or
magistrate within the county. If the judge or magistrate is
satisfied that the probable civil fine and costs will be paid by
the owner or lessee, the judge or magistrate may allow the driver
to proceed, after the load is made legal. If the judge or
magistrate is not satisfied that the owner or lessee, after a
notice and a right to be heard on the merits is given, will pay the
amount of the probable civil fine and costs, the judge or
magistrate may order the vehicle to be impounded until trial on the
merits is completed under conditions set forth in this section for
the impounding of vehicles after the civil fine and costs have been
imposed. Removal of the vehicle, and forwarding, care, or
preservation of the load shall be under the control of and at the
risk of the owner or driver. Vehicles impounded shall be subject to
a lien, subject to a prior valid bona fide lien of prior record, in
the amount of the civil fine and costs and if the civil fine and
costs are not paid within 90 days after the seizure, the judge or
magistrate shall certify the unpaid judgment to the prosecuting
attorney of the county in which the violation occurred, who shall
proceed to enforce the lien by foreclosure sale in accordance with
procedure authorized in the case of chattel mortgage foreclosures.
When
the duly authorized agent of the state transportation
department
or county road commission is performing duties under
this
chapter, the agent shall have has all the powers
conferred
upon peace officers by the general laws of this state.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), an owner of a vehicle or a
lessee of the vehicle of an owner-operator, or other person, who
causes or allows a vehicle to be loaded and driven or moved on a
highway, when the weight of that vehicle violates section 722 is
responsible for a civil infraction and shall pay a civil fine in an
amount equal to 3 cents per pound for each pound of excess load
over 1,000 pounds when the excess is 2,000 pounds or less; 6 cents
per pound of excess load when the excess is over 2,000 pounds but
not over 3,000 pounds; 9 cents per pound for each pound of excess
load when the excess is over 3,000 pounds but not over 4,000
pounds; 12 cents per pound for each pound of excess load when the
excess is over 4,000 pounds but not over 5,000 pounds; 15 cents per
pound for each pound of excess load when the excess is over 5,000
pounds but not over 10,000 pounds; and 20 cents per pound for each
pound of excess load when the excess is over 10,000 pounds.
(4) If the court determines that the motor vehicle or the
combination of vehicles was operated in violation of this section,
the court shall impose a fine as follows:
(a) If the court determines that the motor vehicle or the
combination of vehicles was operated in such a manner that the
gross weight of the vehicle or the combination of vehicles would
not be lawful by a proper distribution of the load upon all the
axles of the vehicle or the combination of vehicles, the court
shall impose a fine for the violation according to the schedule
provided for in subsection (3).
(b) If the court determines that the motor vehicle or the
combination of vehicles would be lawful by a proper distribution of
the load upon all of the axles of the vehicle or the combination of
vehicles, but that 1 or more axles of the vehicle exceeded the
maximum allowable axle weight by 4,000 pounds or less, the court
shall impose a misload fine of $200.00 per axle. Not more than 3
axles shall be used in calculating the fine to be imposed under
this subdivision. This subdivision does not apply to a vehicle
subject to the maximum loading provisions of section 722(11) or to
a vehicle found to be in violation of a special permit issued under
section 725.
(c) If the court determines that the motor vehicle or the
combination of vehicles would be lawful by a proper distribution of
the load upon all of the axles of the vehicle or the combination of
vehicles, but that 1 or more axles of the vehicle exceeded the
maximum allowable axle weight by more than 4,000 pounds, the court
shall impose a fine for the violation according to the schedule
provided for in subsection (3).
(5)
A driver or owner of a vehicle pickup truck with other
vehicles or trailers in combination, a truck or truck tractor, a
truck or truck tractor with other vehicles in combination, or any
special
mobile equipment who knowingly fails to stop at or who
knowingly
bypasses any scales or weighing station is guilty of
a
misdemeanor. This subsection only applies to vehicles being used in
a profit-making venture or business and applies regardless of
whether the vehicle is empty or loaded.
(6)
An agent or authorized representative of the state
transportation
department or of a county road commission shall not
stop a truck or vehicle in movement upon a road or highway within
the
state for any purpose, unless the agent
or authorized
representative
is driving a duly marked vehicle, clearly showing
and
denoting the branch of government county represented.
(7) A driver or owner of a vehicle who knowingly fails to stop
when requested or ordered to do so and submit to a weighing by a
police
officer, a peace officer, or a duly authorized agent of the
state
transportation department, or a representative or agent of a
county road commission, authorized to require the driver to stop
and submit to a weighing of the vehicle and load by means of a
portable scale, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by
imprisonment for not more than 90 days or a fine of not more than
$100.00, or both. A driver or person who dumps his or her load when
ordered to submit to a weigh or who otherwise attempts to commit or
commits an act to avoid a vehicle weigh is in violation of this
section.
Enacting section 1. Sections 714a and 714b of the Michigan
vehicle code, 1949 PA 300, MCL 257.714a and 257.714b, are repealed.
Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect
unless Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 4852(request no.
02888'05) of the 93rd Legislature is enacted into law.