Post by Catch49A couple of months ago I heard that Indiana was starting to impose hefty
fines for trucks parking/sleeping on either exit ramps or on ramps in that
state. Something like $100 or more. Anyone know the particulars?
Sleeping there is always a bad idea because if someone hits you your parked
illegally and chargable. I've also seen a diesel bear rousting a sleeper
there and giving him the treatment.
Indiana ramps up ramp parking fines
Indiana law-enforcement officials won’t be doing anything to ease the
state’s truck parking crisis, but they will issue you a bigger ticket
when you can’t find a legal parking spot.
On May 1, the Indiana State Patrol will raise fines for parking along
interstate highways to $500, up from the current ticket cost of $80 to
$150, depending on the county. State officials said the increase is
designed to keep commercial vehicles from parking on roadsides and on-
and off-ramps.
“This has been a longtime issue we’ve been trying to resolve,” said Maj.
Ed Reuter, commander of the Indiana State Police’s Commercial Vehicle
Enforcement Division. “There’s a lot of people who think that we’re
adversaries of the trucking industry, and we’re not – we want to work
with them.”
Besides citing complaints from residents along interstates who say the
trucks create a safety risk by limiting visibility for passenger
vehicles, Reuter said truckers have left some unwanted parting gifts
behind after their departure.
“Our people are finding urine bottles and human waste and trash, and the
ramps are breaking down, “ Reuter said. “We felt that we needed to make
this thing more of a public issue, to bring it to their attention and
educate them, because come May 1, we’re going to start citing them for
the illegal parking.”
Additionally, Reuter said drivers who are ticketed for ramp parking may
also face Level II or Level III inspections of their rigs.
The added fine does not bode well for truckers already taxed to find
parking in the state. According to a 2002 study on commercial truck
parking by the Federal Highway Administration, Indiana was classified as
having a shortage of available spots, ranking 39th out of all 50 states
for available truck parking.
The lack of parking is compounded by the lukewarm reception truckers are
receiving at the state’s rest areas. Steve McAvoy, facilities management
director for operations support division of the Indiana DOT, said that
although the state doesn’t have a policy prohibiting overnight parking,
it’s not encouraged.
“The way we kind of look at it now is that if they don’t park there,
they (truckers) are going to be a safety hazard driving on the
interstate tired,” McAvoy said. “We basically kind of have to let them
stay there.”
To help inform drivers, Reuter said the state police are partnering with
media outlets to get the word out about the stiffened penalties, and may
begin posting information on the large electronic signs located over the
interstate. So far, he has already seen the ramp-parking situation
improve. However, he said his organization had no intention of adding or
looking into adding commercial truck parking spaces
“That (lack of parking in the state) could be an issue, but it’s going
to be a point where they need to study the routes. The burden is going
to be on the driver to try to find it,” Reuter said. “They (the drivers)
will make do; they’ll find places. Just don’t use the ramps is all we’re
asking.
“We feel that we can educate them, and once we educate them, we feel
that they’re really on their own.”
– By Aaron Ladage, staff writer
***@landlinemag.com
http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2005/Apr05/041905.htm
There is the story and the link to where it's at.
Donald