SB-0433, As Passed Senate, May 14, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SENATE BILL No. 433

 

 

April 2, 2009, Introduced by Senators SANBORN and GILBERT and referred to the Committee on Transportation.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled

 

"Michigan vehicle code,"

 

by amending section 724 (MCL 257.724), as amended by 2005 PA 179.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 724. (1) A police officer, a peace officer, or an

 

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 as a legal weighing device by

 

a qualified person using testing equipment certified or approved by

 

the department of agriculture as a legal weighing device and may

 

require that the vehicle be driven to the nearest weigh station of

 


the state transportation department for the purpose of allowing a

 

police officer, peace officer, or agent of the state transportation

 

department or county road commission to determine whether the

 

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 that 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 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) Beginning January 1, 2006, 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)

 

722(12) 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 in subsection (3).

 

     (5) A driver or owner of a commercial vehicle 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 fails to stop at or bypasses any

 

scales or weighing station is guilty of a misdemeanor.

 

     (6) An agent or authorized representative of the state

 

transportation department or 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 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 an 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.