Has anyone ever been stopped for being over 65 feet long with trailer?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
I would have to say that you got off pretty lightly!  If that had happened in Minnesota, I can almost guarantee you that you wouldn't have been able to drive away in that configuration. 

I really don't understand why that CHP officer let you drive away knowing that you were over the legal length limit.  I think he gave you a break. 

There's no good excuse for you not knowing that your motorhome and enclosed car trailer were over the legal length limit.  My question to you is this, what would you have done if the CHP officer had given you 24 hours to move the motorhome and car trailer in a legal length limit configuration? 
 
My rig, bumper to bumper is only 59 feet (I was considering adding a cargo tray to the towed but decided against it after measurement)

For Tom: If you are not registeredin California then you may have an out... However I'm no where near good enough on that branch of law to even suggest more than I just said.

A legal professional may be of assistance (Lawyer) if that is the case

If you are registered and licensed in California..... Well. that's tougher.

And another thing many folks do not know.. A car in tow which is NOT on a trailer. IS a trailer

This means the trailer brake laws DO apply to cars towed 4-down.

If you trailer or dolly your car. they still apply but to the trailer/dolly, (What ever is rolling on the highway) In this case the car is car-go
 
Being registered in another state does NOT grant you immunity from local laws. Some Officers may chose to 'look the other way' on a 'wobbler' infraction. Two and a half feet over length is not exactly a wobbler. CA. being broke further adds to the diligence of the CHP.
 
 
bigskymt said:
CA. being broke further adds to the diligence of the CHP.
Click to expand...

Driving down I-15 last month, obeying the speed limits, we decided that California could balance their budget if they started issuing citations to all the truckers that were exceeding those speed limits, and exceeding the limits by a lot.

Wendy
 
  Wendy, you describe 'the perfect world'. Unfortunately truckers are really hard to capture. CB radios, radar detectors (including the transmitting type that jam police radar) and a good memory where cops hide are excellent evasive tools. It's really cat & mouse.
  I've been on both sides of the badge. For the HP, especially, its all about numbers. An out of state trucker may be the pocket of gold for some trooper: speeding, log books, fuel permits, equipment violations, controlled substances, DUI etc. but if it takes  hours instead of minutes to process him and he goes to court and plea bargains, then what? And then how many 'Ricky Racers' got away in those hours?
  On the other hand an unsuspecting 4 wheeler going '20 over' that pays his fine or pays and goes to traffic school is another number at shifts end.
  Quotas was another topic. If we were asked "will this ticket fill your 'quota'"? we always answered, "no, we don't have quotas they let us write as many as we like."
  Usually the Officer has his mind made up(ticket or warning) before he gets to your vehicle but courtesy still plays into the end result.
 
bigskymt said:
Being registered in another state does NOT grant you immunity from local laws. Some Officers may chose to 'look the other way' on a 'wobbler' infraction. Two and a half feet over length is not exactly a wobbler. CA. being broke further adds to the diligence of the CHP.
Click to expand...

Though I do agree with you in part.. The officer mentioned TWO infractions.. One was over length, the other was wrong license class or endorsement.

Most, (I think all) States have agreements which basically say that whatever I'm licensed to drive in Michigan. I'm licensed to drive in _________ (Us state or, for that matter, Canadian province)

ANd likewise what you are licensed to drive in your state, You are licensed to drive in Michigan.

I can't spell the word or I'd type it.

Now, on rig length.. I do not think this applies (Which is why I agree in part)

However I could make a defense.. I do not know if it would work,,,, But I could make it..  I know here in Michigan the defense I'm thinking of did work once, but .. IN this specific case the law was written so it would. (I won't even say what the defense was) had the law been written the way the length law is in Michigan it would not have worked.  This is why I suggested professional assistance.  I'm not a legal professional.. Just a retired police dispatcher who often had to look up assorted laws and found it easier to keep a PDF of said laws on the hard drive.
 
To get off the "Discussion" and on to topic, sort of.

I read a few weeks ago in the Mid-West there was an accident, RV ran over a car or something like that.

The driver of the RV was indeed ticketed for, among other things, Over length.

However this was an accident case  I don't think he was 65' long either (Max length in that state is shorter).. Don't have... Perhaps I can find it.  Hey, Mirical of Miricals.. I found it

Fox News

Of course... Fox news is not the best source.. but there it is.. Indiana was the state.. Indy.. and it was a fatal accident it appears
 
I will note that state laws do vary.  In Minnesota, where I live, the combination length limit is 75 feet.  It would take a fair amount of imagination to figure out a way to exceed this with an RV setup while still being in compliance with the other length limitations in state law.  Just east of us, in Wisconsin, the limit is 60 feet.

 
tomdentca said:
I just got stopped between Blythe and Indoi, CA on my way home for the holidays on I-10.
Click to expand...

I've gone to Blythe for the Bluegrass Festival for 11 years. Usually come down 95 from Laughlin. Also go to the city park to dump and take on water, passing several black & whites. I guess I'd better take my 69' through AZ this year.
 
Wendy said:
Driving down I-15 last month, obeying the speed limits, we decided that California could balance their budget if they started issuing citations to all the truckers that were exceeding those speed limits, and exceeding the limits by a lot.

Wendy
[/quote
Not making excuses, but did you see the speed limits for trucks in CA? For us longhaulers going from almost 80 in New Mexico and Arizona to 55 in Cali is the pits. Again, not making excuses, try maneuvering in Cali traffic with a big truck when 99% of the cars are running 20 mph faster than you. And yes, we are good at evasion techniques, but we do get hassled more in Cali than anywhere else. Just a little enlightenment for you.
Click to expand...
 
Actually, I've often thought the 55 mph for trucks and RVs in California is downright dangerous.  People just don't want to slow down for us, even though we have a speed limit to follow.  There are places, such as in the mountains, where we really need to go slower so we don't pick up too much downhill speed, but on the straightaways I suspect a higher speed might be less dangerous for everyone.

ArdraF
 
I've gone to Blythe for the Bluegrass Festival for 11 years. Usually come down 95 from Laughlin. Also go to the city park to dump and take on water, passing several black & whites.
Click to expand...
The free dump at the Blythe city park is history - replaced by a new dump station at the sewage treatment plant.  Cost is $6 if/when it's open - it wasn't when I went through there a couple of weeks ago so I wound up using the RV Pit Stop in Quartzsite.
 
For what its worth, my brother-in-law is a WI State Trooper.  And when I was asking him about "towing double" for my father, who has a 02 F350 SC long box and 34' Jayco 5er and measures around 50' when hooked up, my bro-in-law said that in WI 65' is the max length for doubles.  And also said that he pulls over every RV that he sees pulling double, to check for permits and also to measure length.  He also said that he will let you go up to 65'6" (because of variances in tapes and also points you are measuring from), but after that it is ticket time, no matter what. 
 
Actually the below is directly from a CA DOt site. I believe the guy started off by saying he had a 39' motorhome. If this is the case, there is no length limit in the state of CA.

Over-Length Motorhome: An over-length motorhome is a single-unit motorhome that is longer than 40 feet but not more than 45 feet. (Note: A vehicle combination, e.g. a motorhome towing a vehicle or trailer, may be up to 65 feet length. If the single-unit motorhome is 40 feet or less in length, the combination is not subject to the over-length motorhome restrictions.)

Also people worry about this length law so much yet they fail to realize that most modern MH's are 102" wide and the restrictions on many backroads is only 96"W. NY has a shorter over length law than CA does but only enforceable off of the interstate system. Which brings up a whole different discussion. Length laws on "Interstates" are suppose to be subject to Federal law and not state law. Years ago myself and many other truckers were ticketed for being over length in NY while operating on the interstate system. The State of NY was sued and they stopped ticketing for over length on the interstates and had to allow reasonable access which is 1500' within an Interstate.

By the way, commercial Tractor/Trailers vehicles are not subject to an overall length of a combination unit on the In terstate. There are length laws(for individual trailers) for multiple trailers, but technically you could drive a 40' tractor and be hooked to a 53' trailer and be legal as long as it it hooked by a fifth wheel. If it is hooked by a bumber hitch and it is a commercial vehicle the laws revert to Truck/Trailer instead of Tractor/Trailer and over length can be enforced.

I hated driving tractor/trailers in CA as we were harrassed more than any other State and I am glad that I do not travel there in my MH.
 
Well MD David, the length limit in CA. is 65', any combination of vehicles, (w/o permit) look at Caltrans website.
  You are misinterpreting laws specifically written for "'overlength' M/Hs"
  As far as Interstate Laws the individual state has the authority to set their own laws as long as they fall within federal laws, e.g. you cant set your length laws at 100' nor can you set them at 40'...unless you want to risk the loss of federal funding.
  Feel free to bring your overlength rig to CA. and try to argue the law with the CHP. I guarantee you will be contributing to Arnold's deficit reduction plan before you leave.
  Admittedly the law you quoted is poorly written, but that was a Grey-out Davis bill.
 
 
bigskymt said:
Well MD David, the length limit in CA. is 65', any combination of vehicles, (w/o permit) look at Caltrans website.
  You are misinterpreting laws specifically written for "'overlength' M/Hs"
  As far as Interstate Laws the individual state has the authority to set their own laws as long as they fall within federal laws, e.g. you cant set your length laws at 100' nor can you set them at 40'...unless you want to risk the loss of federal funding.
  Feel free to bring your overlength rig to CA. and try to argue the law with the CHP. I guarantee you will be contributing to Arnold's deficit reduction plan before you leave.
  Admittedly the law you quoted is poorly written, but that was a Grey-out Davis bill.
Click to expand...

I couldn't disagree with you more as long as the MH is on the Interstate. Plus the Law(CA) clearly states that if the MH is under 40" the overall length is not enforceable. My Tractor Trailer was 85' long and never had an issue in CA(for over length anyway), which they couldn't anyway. If a few MH operators get the tickets and want to fight it and sue the state of CA they will succeed.
 
We just got our Woodall's catalog and in the Rules of the Road section - pg 126 - it specifically says: maximum combined length for two vehicles 60 ft.  This is confusing to me.  ESPECIALLY since our MH is 40' and our toad is 16' and our tow bar in between is 5'.  Please somebody tell me I'm reading this wrong.
 
By the way with TOAD I did measure and I am 71' Long. I see allot of Prevost going down the road with double stacked trailers and the overall length is 75' Long.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 441 (members: 9, guests: 432)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,913
Posts
1,387,271
Members
137,666
Latest member
nativoacai
Back
Top Bottom