Bill Text: MI SB0968 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Traffic control; traffic regulation; fine for violation of weight restrictions; make imposition of fine permissive. Amends sec. 724 of 1949 PA 300 (MCL 257.724).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-12-04 - Referred To Committee On Transportation [SB0968 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2011-SB0968-Engrossed.html
SB-0968, As Passed Senate, December 4, 2012
SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 968
A bill to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled
"Michigan vehicle code,"
by amending section 724 (MCL 257.724), as amended by 2012 PA 252.
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 and rural development 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 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. If a
person operates a vehicle in violation of increased axle loading
maximums provided for under section 722(13), the owner or lessee of
the vehicle is responsible for a civil infraction and shall pay the
civil fine under this subsection that applies to the amount of
weight by which the vehicle exceeds the original loading maximum.
(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
Senate Bill No. 968 as amended December 4, 2012
vehicles, but that 1 or more axles of the vehicle exceeded the
<<maximum allowablePERMITTED>>
axle weight by more than 1,000
pounds
but less
than
4,000 pounds, or
less, the court shall may
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(12) or to a vehicle found to be
in
violation of a special permit issued under section 725.or to a
vehicle for which a fine as calculated under the schedule in
subsection (3) would be less than the fine as calculated under this
subsection.
(c) If the court determines that the motor vehicle or the
combination of vehicles would meet the loading conditions specified
in a special permit that was issued under section 725 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 <<PERMITTED>> axle weight by 1,000 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. If the court determines that the
load was misloaded, the conditions of the special permit remain
valid. The imposition of a fine does not void the special permit.
(d) (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 allowablePERMITTED>>
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.
