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Towing related traffic violation

W

WhitetailAddict

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A buddy of mine got a traffic violation for the the mirrors on his truck not extending past his trailer. The cop did not even stop him, they wrote it up and sent it to him. It was a GMC Canyon pulling a small 102" wide snowmobile trailer. The cop that wrote the ticket claimed the driver couldn't see behind his trailer and was a safety hazard.
Nick, your in law enforcement could you shed some light on this? I have never heard this before, has anyone else?
 
Each state's wording is a little different but here's how Idaho is spelled out.

TITLE 49
MOTOR VEHICLES
CHAPTER 9
VEHICLE EQUIPMENT
49-940. MIRRORS. (1) Every motor vehicle shall be equipped with a mirror
so located as to reflect to the operator a view of the highway for a distance
of at least two hundred (200) feet to the rear of the vehicle.
(2) When a motor vehicle is so loaded or constructed, or is towing a
vehicle or trailer which is so loaded or constructed as to obstruct the
driver's view straight to the rear, then the motor vehicle shall be equipped
with a mirror on the left side and a mirror on the right side so located as to
reflect to the operator a view of the highway for a distance of at least two
hundred (200) feet to the rear of the vehicle.


As for a reason why the cop didn't stop him and sent the citation via mail I can't give an answer as I don't know the circumstances surrounding the decision. For infractions lots of states will allow you to serve through the mail system.

There's a variety of clip on mirrors that can be used when towing with a vehicle that doesn't have tow mirrors. This is kinda a pet peeve of mine with the big 3 auto makers. IMO every single pickup sold should have mirrors capable of extending out. It's a friggen truck for crying out loud. It's designed to um....tow things. 99% of them come from the factory with a frame mounted hitch platform and wiring harness for trailer lights, but not with the ability to see around a trailer that would need that kind of hitch?? :sosp:
 
Get with Glock40 here. He works up there in Pa. I think thats a chicken shit reason to stop someone and I would never do it.
 
Thanks for the responses.
Trouttrooper, thanks for the explanation and I agree with you about the towing mirrors. My truck doesn't have extendable mirrors and at times I wish it did.

Nick, I agree I thought it was chicken shit too. Thats why I was looking for input from someone in law enforcement. The PSP actually sent out a warrant for my buddies arrest, an officer showed up at his home on Wed. to serve the warrant claiming they sent it 3 times and he didn't respond. He never received the ticket. The infraction was supposed to have occured on 1/19/08. He just paid the fine to avoid any further hassle, but he was completely unaware of it until Wednesday. He said he does remember an officer in that area following him while on a snowmobile trip, he thought that may be the officer who wrote him up, but he was never pulled over.
 
WhitetailAddict said:
Thanks for the responses.
Trouttrooper, thanks for the explanation and I agree with you about the towing mirrors. My truck doesn't have extendable mirrors and at times I wish it did.

Nick, I agree I thought it was chicken shit too. Thats why I was looking for input from someone in law enforcement. The PSP actually sent out a warrant for my buddies arrest, an officer showed up at his home on Wed. to serve the warrant claiming they sent it 3 times and he didn't respond. He never received the ticket. The infraction was supposed to have occured on 1/19/08. He just paid the fine to avoid any further hassle, but he was completely unaware of it until Wednesday. He said he does remember an officer in that area following him while on a snowmobile trip, he thought that may be the officer who wrote him up, but he was never pulled over.
Click to expand...

That is stupid, and is a chicken shit reason, and he shouldn't have done that, if that cop had that big of an effing problem with it, he should've given him a fix-it ticket, or something. I got pulled over by a state trooper in my Tahoe, because i put 18x9's and 285/60R18's on there, and the front tires stuck out too much. I had to put fender flares on, $400 bucks for the damn things. The other thing, we have the power extendable mirrors on our truck, and they barely work with our trailers, can hardly see anything anyways.
 
I'm sure every state if different but up this way when we tow snowmobile trailers north you better have towing mirrors or extensions on your regular mirrors. The troopers have a filed day on Friday nights. One of the guys I ride sleds with has been nailed twice with his Avalanche.
 
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