Filed under: Government/Legal
Trucker slapped with $17,000 ticket
You hear it and figure it must be some kind of urban legend. A truck driver makes a wrong turn and ends up with a $17,000 ticket. Well, it's actually not true. Truck driver William Carroll got lost in the suburbs around Philadelphia and when he got pulled over the ticket was actually for $17,751.50. Philadelphia's NBC 10 looked into the story and found it to be totally legit, if not tragically sad. Carroll says he was just following the directions he had gotten from one of the companies he leases his trucks from. He missed a weight limit sign that was leaning and partially obscured, and before he knew it he was stuck trying to turn his big rig around in a residential neighborhood. That's where the police caught up to him and gave him the ticket. At first he thought it was a mistake, thinking maybe 17 hundred instead of 17 thousand dollars, but when the officer verified it, Carroll says he felt like he was hit by a Mack truck.
A PennDOT spokesman, Charlie Metzger, explained that the fines are so high because heavy trucks can do a lot of damage to certain bridges and roadways. So the fine breaks down thusly: "It's $150 for the fine, and then it's $150 for every 500 pounds over the 3,000-pound weight limit," Metzger said. He further rationalized the fine saying the money often needs to go right back into the road repairs. Remind us to never get lost driving a truck in Pennsylvania.
[Source: NBC 10 via Digg]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Car videos & Motorcycle videos 7:47PM (12/27/2006)
That is one big fine, this guy needs to take out a loan to pay for this violation.
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S 8:18PM (12/27/2006)
Is that the truck driver or the PennDOT spokesman in the photo?
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5 Watt 9:39PM (12/27/2006)
“3,000-pound weight limit”, better not take you Solstice over that bridge with a full tank of gas.
Based on the fine and 5 ton sign in the picture his load was about 68,000lbs.
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Patrick 9:59PM (12/27/2006)
A 3,000 lb weight limit? My Saab would be overweight for that street! I'm sure that if the sign really was obscured as they say in the article, this guy could get a picture of it and get the ticket thrown out in court.
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epp_b 10:03PM (12/27/2006)
I certainly wouldn't put the blame entirely on the driver. He should sue the company that gave him the directions and, possibly, whatever public department is responsible for the signage (which wasn't properly placed or maintained). I still think he should have to pay some as well, because some of the blame still falls on him (what if he had been paying closer attention to the sign, even if it was partially obscured).
Sure, they may be just a couple of honest mistakes (and they probably are), but honest mistakes don't free one from responsibility.
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jon.... 10:08PM (12/27/2006)
I hate PA, but thats just because I grew up there. Dont mind the people but the roads suck, the cops are angry, it rains alot, and everything is falling apart. Also half of the state is on welfare so it meens I cant do my job there....good news is I moved to vegas...
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Tim UF 10:56PM (12/27/2006)
ok, a bridge with a 3000lb weight limit rules out all vehicles larger than a toyota matrix... wheres the tickets for all the S Huge V's that are undoubtedly in that residential area??
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Bob in Cobb 11:02PM (12/27/2006)
The price of "stupid" is high in Pennsylvania! and there is a lot of it!
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Tim UF 11:12PM (12/27/2006)
oh, and the sign behind the guy CLEARLY shows 5 ton weight limit, thats 10k pounds... hoepfully the PenDOT spokesperson was talking hypothetically...
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apt34 11:28PM (12/27/2006)
Someone should sue the public works department, because Pennsylvania roads are possibly the worst I've ever encountered.
I completely believe the obscured road thing, because no one cares about the roads in Pennsylvania!
Actually, they do strip the asphalt off the road and just leave it bare... so I guess they do something, even though its useless and just wears people's suspensions and tires.
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Sheniferous 11:45PM (12/27/2006)
So, the fine is "$150 plus $150 for every 500lbs over the 3,000 lbs weight limit", even though the weight limit as stated by the sign is 5 tons which equals 10,000 lbs.
So going by that, and the claimed vehicle "weiht" [sic] of 71,140 lbs:
http://www.nbc10.com/2006/0830/9764928.jpg
The fine should come up to $18,492, right?
71,140 - 10,000 = 61,140
61,140/500 = 122.28
122.28 * $150 = $18,342
$18,342 + $150 = $18,492.
Either way, sucks to be him.
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court of no common sense 11:53PM (12/27/2006)
3000 lb weight limit, huh? Even though the sign in the back says 5 tons? The PennDOT workers who put up the sign must have carried it there on a moped. I guess people living on those streets don't get US mail or garbage pick-up either. Also no trucks, SUVs, Ford Crown Vics, Chevy Impalas, or news vans of any kind for that matter, huh? Heck, even a Kia Optima tips the scales at 3142 lbs empty. Everyone in that neighborhood must drive MINIs, but never with more than 1 passenger or a full tank of gas, because then that would be over 3000 lbs too. And the cops who wrote out the ticket must have been on motorcycles, horseback, or foot?
Obviously the guy made a mistake, but if he's going to get a ticket, it's only fair that everyone else in violation get a ticket too.
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donny 11:57PM (12/27/2006)
I think this is great. I live on a road that restricts large truck traffic that is commonly ignored by many trucks per day. Trucks turning onto my road have damaged sidewalks, taken out porches and even uprooted the 'no trucks' signs themselves. They are no allowed on the road as the huge weight on a road that sits on a watershed will do damage to the road, and everything near it. Most of my neighboors are convinced that foundation cracks are due to excessive use by large trucks (The houses are all old...and have stone and mortar foundations).
If drivers knew a large fine was possible, that might be a just deterrant. I certainly have *NO* sympathy for the driver.
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Glenn 3:52AM (12/28/2006)
See, that just sound wrong for good reason.
I am almost certain that if a truck cause damage to a road (requiring immediate repairs like they said); the driver would have to have his insurance pay for repairs ... isn't that one of the things covered by big truck insurance?
Just like those traffic light cameras .. just a way to collect tax money -- which I'm sure little of which will go anywhere near paying for anything like road improvement etc.
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GhostDoggy 5:05AM (12/28/2006)
Sounds like a ticket-trap situation. I'm betting that there are more vehicles traversing that 3000-pound weight-restricted bridge than not. If I were him, I would setup a camcorder and start recording license plates of every vehicle going across, identifying them all by make and model, and then inquiring to the PennDOT why they are not being non-discriminated (ticketed) also.
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Greg A. 5:31AM (12/28/2006)
The actual piece that aired on TV (which you can view via the Read link above) states that this trucker had a court date on Sept. 12. I wonder how he fared in court.
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Richard Warren 6:14AM (12/28/2006)
"Carroll says he was just following the directions he had gotten from one of the companies he leases his trucks from."
It's called a map or GPS
"He missed a weight limit sign that was leaning and partially obscured, and before he knew it he was stuck trying to turn his big rig"
Not watching, not paying attention
Got exactly what he deserved.
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Edmond Dantes 8:16AM (12/28/2006)
Intent is irrelevant in a traffic violation. Violations such as this are based on strict liablity. Most likely he'll go to court, and the prosecutor will offer a downgrade on a plea bargain to cut his fine substantially.
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P to the C 8:50AM (12/28/2006)
Let's sue everybody - the truck leasing company for giving him bad directions, the DOT for not making the sign bigger, the cop that gave him the ticket and violated his personal liberties, the state for not having adequate oversight of the DOT, the road construction company for not building the road to high enough specs, the truck driver training school for poor instruction, etc.
That's the American way.
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smokeydog001 9:31AM (12/28/2006)
Is that Philadelphia's Director of Public Works in the photo?
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