From: Bill Kealey (cwkealey@atlanticbb.net)
Date: Sun May 01 2005 - 07:41:05 PDT
>> What exactly are the kind of fines they can throw at you for not having a
>> proper class license or not having a medical card? If they don't even
>> ask for the medical card.. is that the norm..??
>>
>> For instance, if a commercial dump truck driver has a license for a
>> straight truck (Class B) and he hooks up to a 10 ton flatbed trailer and
>> puts a backhoe on it, according to the CDL regs, he is suppose to have a
>> Class A license.
>>
>> What happens if he only has a Class B license? Is a warning the norm, or
>> do they simply ticket you or ?
>>
>> I guess they have to pull you over for something first.
>>
>> Dave
Dave,
Each state jurisdiction has it's own way to handle tickets/citations and the
related fines.
In MD, the only state that I have any qualification to speak of in these
matters, the fines vary, sometimes quite a bit. The chief judge of the
circuit courts of MD set the fines for the violations of law that I worked
with and the fines changed from year to year. This does not mean that the
fines always went up. Sometimes the fines went down substantially and I
never knew why as the chief judge didn't feel the need to ask my opinion ...
hhmmmm, think I'll check into that .....
I never worked with large truck enforcement but did issue citations for
cars/small trucks/motorcycles, etc.
In the same manual for commercial drivers that I referred to earlier there
is a chapter titled: 1.2 Other CDL Rules. I will not quote the entire
chapter, to the relief of all here I am sure. The only reference in the
chapter to fines says that "No one can drive a commercial motor vehicle
without a CDL . A court may fine you up (to) $5,000 or put you in jail for
breaking this rule." Elsewhere, it says that if a business knows that you
are driving their truck without a CDL they also can be fined $5,000.
HOWEVER ... In my experience, rarely does the District Court of Maryland
issue the maximum money penalty or jail time for a first time offender.
(first time caught not first time violating the law).
In MD, fines are listed in a small booklet (at least for cars and small
trucks) which are quite a bit less than the maximum penalty and do not
normally include jail time as the officer cannot issue a citation/ticket for
jail time.
The officers generally have a certain amount of leeway on whether or not to
issue a citation or written or verbal warning.
YOUR attitude WILL often make a big difference. That of course does not
mean that the officers are always reasonable and good natured or that they
have common sense. Like all groups of people, all are different, you will
have some who will work with you and others who have to make a point to ruin
your day so that they can have a good day. But, those folks are everywhere.
Well, off the soapbox. Bill K.
Second and subsequent offenders, depending on the violation, may be required
to visit with the judge and or jury depending on the seriousness of the
violation.
With the CDL you are basically giving up your rights to only be stopped for
violations. The portable and permenent weigh scales and inspections are a
point which prove this.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat May 07 2005 - 20:43:22 PDT