Heads up on a new PA traffic law
 

I know it is hard to keep track of all laws, especially the new ones. The new law is that in winter you have to take all snow and ice off of your vehicle. If you are driving, and snow or ice falling off of your car, van, or truck causes an accident you can be fined from $200 to $2000.

I don't know all implications for the big rigs. I don't really see how you can safely get off the snow and possible ice of the top of those trucks. I thought some of you might want to know just in case.

Drive safely, and happy trucking.

leave it up to PA :evil:

Probably from cleaning up wrecks caused by sheets of ice flying off trailers into traffic. :roll:

They aren't saying you have to clean it off, just if if the snow/ ice from your trailer causes a wreck, you are going to get a ticket,which would be the least of you worries if it is a serious accident. The plaintiffs lawyers will make that fine seem like nothing. :lol:

Yeah it is a real shame some fools have to follow so close to another vehicle to get hit by the snow and ice. :roll: :roll: :roll:

Uturn, tailgating isn't an issue here. Ice sheets will fly off a trailer with with such force that vehicles 50 -100 feet back will get nailed. So will oncoming traffic if the wind is right. Been on the receiving end of the flying ice before.:shock

Nice attempt on trying to pass it off on the 4 wheeler though. :roll: :

I wouldn't climb up there either, just now, a driver will get a ticket if flying ice or snow causes an accident.

I guess after a motorist got killed in PA last year by flying ice, the lawmakers decided to pass a feel good law to make it appear to the general public that they are doing something about a 1 in a million accident.

Feel good legislation - losing touch with reality.

I don't think PA could force a driver to clear the snow/ice from the top of their trailer. The reason, simple, the height. Because of the height of the trailer, OSHA requires safety restraints, as well as a chain around the edge to prevent you from falling.

just hop in and out of New Jersey, they have 13'6" overpasses that will clean that off for you

Rick

It has always been a law up here, One company I worked for had a device for removing snow, when you drove out the gate it would scrap the snow and ice off the trailer

Again they aren't telling you to climb up and clean the roof off, they are just saying if ice/snow flys off your trailer, you will get a ticket. Unless every shipper/ receiver with drop lots and every terminal installs a roof scraper it is a moot point.

And because a driver can't be expected to climb on top of the trailer, i have a feeling that any lawyer worth anything would be able to get that ticket dropped.

That'd be the same as writing tickets to someone because for going too slow in a posted area because the truck is governed below that speed.

how do you prove which truck the ice came from to cause the wreck?

Hi board newbie here, can some of you folks post links to the actual laws (in your juristictions), US or Canadian, that actually say that you must do this? I would appreciate any help on this Thanks!. 8)

Thank God I 1, pull flatbeds and 2, don't drive in Pennsylvania!

Seriously though, I personally applaud Penn. for this law. Last week I was in Colorado going down Loveland Pass when another 18 wheeler, exceeding the speed limit by about 30 miles per hour passed me, a large sheet of ice flew off his truck and luckily hit my trailer, not my cab. No damage but it hit hard enough I could feel the truck jerk from the force.

Solution here? Truck washes are going to have to start performing an ice removal service. Since the weather is too bad for them to wash the truck they should be glad to add this service. As for the inconvenience of having to keep your truck safe for other drivers? Priceless!

A driver should not be complaining about this law, basically it is already federal law in that you are not allowed to drive an unsafe truck in the first place!

I know I will get a lot of flack on this one but we all need to take a positive look at this, not just look at the inconvenience it causes us. Any time we get ice, I do have to scrape the top of my flatbed. Granted it is not as high as the vans but I still have to exert a little effort. Unfortunately driving a truck does involve a little effort outside the cab occasionally!

I'll get off my soapbox now.

Everyone Drive Safe!!

good idea, but the nearest truckwash to me is 130 miles, how do I get there? how about if all terminals and drop yards had to put in the overhead scrapers? if the trucking company was help responsible, it would make it worth their while to do it. perhaps truckstops could put them in too , yea right, that will happen