[bigtimba]

Originally Posted by mike3fan

Most warning signs in NY are list as 1 foot lower than actual clearance,if the sign reads 12'6" the actual bridge clearance is 13'6"

And now . . the rest of the story!

You are correct, sir.

The scene . . Late at night, an unlit secondary road, my truck with 4 ways flashing and two state units all red white and blue . . it looked like a lot more than it was . .

Cop 1 had gone back to the intersection to stop traffic there, I was just finishing up with Cop 2 and as she walked back to her car, I noticed the swing in her hip and twinkle in her eye . . (whoa! . . almost slipped into trucker vision), then some guy comes running out of his house to tell me to just go through it and that big trucks do it all the time. I was tempted . .

. . but the Cops had been nice . . never questioned me about any conceivable wrong doing . . so I let them back me out so I could follow their route over an under rated bridge, instead!

[flood]

AZ state police can out and said they WILL NOT be giving tickets for laptops being on and within reach of drivers.. "no video running" but things like gps, ddl are ok

i know OOIDA was all over the for it.

[thebaldeagle655]

Originally Posted by flood

AZ state police can out and said they WILL NOT be giving tickets for laptops being on and within reach of drivers.. "no video running" but things like gps, ddl are ok

i know OOIDA was all over the for it.

can someone explain what "Az state police can out" and "was all over the for it" means?

I am sure Flood has a good point, trouble is with the foreign language this is written in I have no idea what he is saying! Is there some way to ban illiterate people?

[flood]

sorry bad keyboard on other laptop still not fully awke and high winds didn't help

Arizona State Police came out in a press release and said that they would no longer issue tickets for laptop's within reach of a driver

OOIDA went after them when they received calls from drivers Monday about Arizona (DOT) at the I-10 westbound Port of entry had started writing tickets for laptop's calling them TV's last Friday.

[Rev.Vassago]

HEADLINE: Federal safety officials parse enforcement of TV ban on in-cab laptops

Byline: Charlie Morasch, staff writer

Only days after some truck drivers were warned and ticketed for having a laptop computer in-cab at an Arizona checkpoint, regulators in the highest levels of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration are scrambling to answer one controversial question:

Can commercial drivers have computer screens within view of their driver’s seats?

Last week, FMCSA spokesman Duane DeBruyne told Land Line Magazine that he doesn’t believe laptop computers fall under Section 393.88 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.

“The title of 393.88 is ‘television receivers,’ ” DeBruyne said. “Laptop computers are not television receivers; therefore, they are not prohibited by FMCSA regulations.”

Later in the week, Stephen Campbell, executive director of the non-profit Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance told Land Line that FMCSA Administrator John Hill and others are working to issue guidance regarding the interpretation of Federal Safety Regulation 393.88, which is titled “television receivers” and specifically bans a “screen or other means of visually receiving a television broadcast” from being within the driver’s view.

“Clearly, what is intended by (393.88) is to prevent the driver from going down the road, watching ‘True Grit,’ ” Campbell said. “I think you would rightfully say no responsible driver would ever do that.”

Drivers that have laptops in their cabs may be tempted to type, check e-mail or do other tasks that inhibit safe driving, but it’s difficult to prove, Campbell said.

“And there might be some cops doing the same thing,” he said.

Land Line Magazine’s daily Web news article on Monday, June 2, detailed the May 25 citation issued to OOIDA member Gerald Cook, who was ticketed after an Arizona DOT officer saw a laptop mounted near Cook’s driver seat when he went through the Sam Simon Port of Entry scale house on Interstate 10. Another OOIDA member was warned for the same supposed violation, though that driver was not cited.

Since then, officials from Arizona’s DOT have requested an interpretation of 393.88 from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, state DOT Spokeswoman Cydney De Modica told Land Line.

“The question that’s given this some immediacy is what’s going on in Arizona,” Campbell said. “The regulatory guidance they’ve received seemed to indicate it could be enforced. If enforcement is carried to a level of ridiculousness, I think it could be a problem for motor carriers and enforcement as well.”

CVSA was scheduled to address the issue of laptop computers in cabs of big trucks at its September conference in Winnipeg, but the Arizona DOT’s request for a legal interpretation and other confusion about the rule has magnified the importance of the issue, Campbell said.

Several states have laws banning television viewing by vehicle drivers, although many allow driver aid technology such as GPS screens.

Section 393.88 of the FMCSR states:

“Any motor vehicle equipped with a television viewer, screen or other means of visually receiving a television broadcast shall have the viewer or screen located in the motor vehicle at a point to the rear of the back of the driver’s seat if such viewer or screen is in the same compartment as the driver and the viewer or screen shall be so located as not to be visible to the driver, while he/she is driving the motor vehicle. The operating controls for the television receiver shall be so located that the driver cannot operate them without leaving the driver’s seat.”

De Modica said Arizona’s state inspectors have issued mostly warnings and a handful of citations for drivers with open laptops.

“There’s no high volume of these,” De Modica said.

OOIDA Member Tom Clarke, of McKinney, TX, uses a laptop he’s mounted near his driver’s seat for mapping. He uses voice-activated software combined with mapping systems on his laptop and said it’s as safe as a GPS system.

“It is a great tool (aid) to navigating,” Clarke wrote in an e-mail to Land Line. “In my opinion this is where technology helps reduce driver workload, which improves our margin of safety.

“I feel very strongly that commercial drivers should be allowed to continue to use these types of tools,” he wrote. “P.S. I must have a cheap computer; I can’t watch TV on it.”

[mike3fan]

Originally Posted by Rev.Vassago

The operating controls for the television receiver shall be so located that the driver cannot operate them without leaving the driver’s seat.”

This is a stupid rule,aren't most Swifty drivers gonna crash if they get up from their seat to change the channel?

[Manicmechnic]

Originally Posted by Rev.Vassago

“P.S. I must have a cheap computer; I can’t watch TV on it.”

Hewlett Packard Rm436aa#aba Expresscard Digital/analog Tv Tuner :wink:
http://www.beachaudio.com/Hewlett-Pa...-p-103910.html

[Royedw]

The next time you go by an Arizona Trooper, or local law enforcement vehicle take a look to the right of the driver seat. There you will see mounted, in a direction that faces the driver, a computer screen. It will be on, and the drivers will use it while they are driving!!!! ops: What's the problem here? Most big truck drivers aren't going to endanger themselves, although some will,.. and a laptop has a much better visual screen that that damned Quaalcom screen you can hardly see and how many of us have heard the beep and tried to read the next message from Dispatch???

[geeshock]

I'll admit that the qualcom sits in the pasanger seat and I'll quickly scan it on the open road, that thing constantly beeps and is anoying, I think that can be dangerous in it's own way. of course if I'm downtown or in busy traffic with lights and such I do my best to ignore the beep till i come to a red light or stop but i am guilty of looking at the qualcom while going down the road