Posted: 5/31/2004 11:39:21 AM EDT
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Anybody else see checkpoints setup on the highways this weekend? (not DUI) I stopped at a rest area on I 79 southbound outside of Pittsburgh. They were forcing all trucks into the rest area where anybody driving a small box truck got questioned. Had creepers to look under trucks. |
Wasn't a seatbelt type thing either. They were really looking hard at little Volvo type box delivery trucks. I was walking the dog (he likes to take his time) So I got a good look at what was going on. |
| Fla. law for years has classified "all trucks-trailers-pickups-vans" as commercial vehicles subject to inspection. In recent years (last 20 or so) they have ignored pickups, passenger vans, mini-vans, et c, but the State has retained the right to stop & search those vehicles for agricultural purposes. (Almost any abominable bilogical specimen you can find will flourish here). The power has been sparingly exercised and jealously guarded. When Reagan put (iirc) Bush 41 in charge of the War on Some Drugs, the Florida Ag Dept refused to allow the road stations to be used by any drug agency for fear of losing the power of enforcement (i.e., the justification for the no-PC inspection was the protection of Fla's agricultural economy, which is huge; to use the power for general law enforcement would jeopardize the authority involved.) Luckily, it's hard to make a useful bomb smaller than a mutant grapefruit. God bless the Fla. DACS! |
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box trucks, like RYDERS? good thing mcveigh's dead on the news they were saying the cops will be doing major ticketing for seatbelts this weekend and that last year (not sure if they meant last memorial day weekend or all of 2003) they got close to 60,000. They gave the exact number but I forgot it, something like 57 or 58,000 and change. and they claim it's about safety  I think a seatbelt violation is $50 in NY but it might be more. that's millions of dollars |
Nothing to do with seatbelts or fruit flys  These guys had tunnel vision, a van full of naked chearleaders without seatbelts would have gone right through without them batting an eye. |
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creepers imply safety checks, going in the box ??? What's the recent history on truck involved accidents in your area? Could they have brought a portable scale also? Were they just questioning? inspecting or going into the boxes? If going in - they were looking for something, something being defined as ??? If questioning and inspecting and not going in, then I would say safety inspections or looking for stolen. If they were looking for things that go boom, yah kinda gotta look inside. |
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Not that checkpoints aren't sometimes a good idea. 1144s are fatals. from the CHP site 6:59AM - SIGALERT CANCELED AT 0610 HRS 5:00AM - 5:00AM - CAD #140, 1144, SB I15 JNO E MISSION AV, 0318 HRS, TWO VEH INVOLVED, 1 VAN 1 MIATA, 5 PEOPLE ARE 1180 1 IS 1144, THE LEFT TWO LANES WILL BE SHUT DOWN FOR INVESTIGATION, SIGALERT ISSUED AT 0443 HRS, CONTACT OCEANSIDE CHP FOR FURTHER INFO 4:56AM - 4:56AM - CAD #134, 1144, S STAGE COACH LN AT REINEMAN RD, 0301 HRS, SOLO VEH INTO A CONCRETE WELL, THIS CRASH WILL BE DUI RELATED THE DRIVER IS THE FATALITY AND THE PASSENGER IS 1180 TRANSPORTED TO PALOMAR HOSP, BOTH THE DRIVER AND THE PASSENGER WERE UNDERAGE, CONTACT TEMECULA CHP FOR FURTHER INFO |
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These checkpoints are for the betterment of society as a whole. They protect us from freedom haters and other nefarious characters. They also produce a revenue stream for local municipalities which contribute to local parks and seeing eye dogs for hearing impaired people. |
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Waldo those are permenant weigh stations there at the 50 mile marker pickle park(rest Area), they run all the time. Though they do step up enforcement during terror related warnings, for the most part they are looking for DOT infractions with trucks and drivers... They also step up enforcement during holiday times as many truckers will drive "out of hours" to get home for the holiday, out of hours means, currently you are allowed to drive 11 hours then you have to take a break for 10 hours, plus you are not allowed to work over 70 hours in a 80 hour period.. this is of corse for commercial truck drivers.. That is the porpose of the weigh station, including saftey concerns of the truck ie over weight, broken or missing parts, ect ect ect.... PaDanby It is also normal for DOT inspectors to look inside of the cargo area of a truck.. Safe sucurment of the load is very important, if ehavy things move it would be possible for the truck to roll or flip, also freight could make its way thru the body of the container... The normally check for this, and it is also in part to look for contraband... Also if it is a hazardous material load they will check for leaks, proper securement, and proper packaging.... This is all routine, I have drivien a semi truck for 10 years and have been thru many checks... never ticketed once I might ad... Knock on wood.... |
how many times has the new guy at the plant gone outside for his smoke break and heard someone bump firing and called the cops thinking the plant was under attack?
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