I am so furious I could just bust!!!! UPDATE 3/3/10

[Pumpkinpup]

My DH drives a big truck for a freight line. It is equiped with something called a Pre-Pass which, in certain states that are equiped to use it, gives the driver a signal in the cab that allows them to by-pass the weigh scales if their weight is fine. It weighs the truck in motion on the highway thus eliminating the need for a trip through the scale house. If you get a red light in the cab, you are suposed to enter the scale house.
Tonight in Louisianna my DH's prepass did not give him any signal "It has not given him or his partner a signal in this particular truck nor any of the other ones he has driven (So not just a truck or transponder thing) in months when going through LA so they have just followed the lighted signs that the scale guys control. The lighted sign tonight said "Truck OK to Bypass Scales". Hubby does as the signs tell him to do and he is promptly run down and given a $500 ticket for passing the scale!!!!!! We will have to pay this fine personally as it was "Driver Error"!!! WTH!!!?
They tell him he is OK and to bypass and then hand him a ticket for doing what they told him to do?
The officer even noted on the ticket that there was no in cab signal any of the three times Doug passed the transponder unit tonight and that his weight was only 11k pounds and the sign stated it was ok to bypass. DH has been driving rigs for over 30 years and NEVER had a ticket for anything! Why the heck would he purposefully run a scale if he only weighed 11k?
It makes NO SENSE!!!!!!!! And arguing with them was a fruitless effort of course.
I'm just ticked to no end because that is over half of his weeks paycheck!!!! He wasn't even at fault!

SEE POST 11 FOR UPDATE

 

[kelseygirl707]

Oh I would contest that, go to court and fight it, that is not right! Why would the cop note the ok to pass signal, but still give the ticket! IDIOTS!

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Quote:
I could not help but wonder the same thing. It makes NO sense at all! I intend to write a protest letter to the state in DH's stead.

 

[fuzziebutt]

I would contest it, and video the thingy saying "Truck OK to Bypass Scales" with the same or approx weight on it. Be sure to show the weight at the time of the ticket. But, the hardworking truckers are always screwed by the laws and fines. And fees and licenses and stuff. Dad bought a truck, and had the insurance added to the pymts. A woman fulled out in front of him., causing him to wreck, and to kill her. He hadn't made the first payment, so the insurance said that he wasn't covered since no payments were made. I tried to get him to fight it, but he was just tired. He got a job in a mfg plant, and punched a timeclock until he retired. He was never really the same. Kinda breaks the spirit.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Quote:
That's horrible! I am so sorry.

 

[redhen]

Dont pay it! Its like admiting that hes guilty! And he dosent want that on his record...
I'd fight it ALL the way...

 

[PineappleMama]

Cop made an error in noting the "Okay to pass"... he just testified that it was a sign error, thus the state's fault, not the driver's. It sucks that you'll have to waste time in court, but a cop's word is very weighty, and in this case on your side so I would definitely use it. AND push... not just no paying a fine, but to have the citation removed from the record completely.

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

Quote:
This for sure. You should have no problem contesting it, and the judge may well read the cop the riot act.

DH contested a so called hunting infraction that a hot shot wild life trooper issued, and the judge gave the trooper a dressing down for being an idiot.

 

[fordmommy]

Quote:
Take it to court. And make sure that the cop is in the court room. He is YOUR witness!

 

[JP33]

Seems like something or someone malfunctioned. I would fight it all the way. With your husband's clean driving record, he should get off, most hopefully.

And another thing, why would someone with 30yrs of driving, who obviously understands the rules deliberately pass a scale?

Somethings not adding up---Fight it!


Best of luck!



...Jp