russiangoddess
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois
My husband is a truck driver. He was driving on Thorndale Rd. in Illinois, which is a designated truck route. As he was driving along, he saw several "Construction Zone Ahead" signs. He saw these for a few miles, but there were never any weight restriction signs. As he got up to a bridge, he was partially across it, when there was a small white sign (about 12" by 12") that stated new weight restrictions due to the construction. Unfortunately, by the time he saw it, he was already on the bridge. This bridge had all but two lanes (one each direction) closed. And he was surrounded by other trucks, so there was no way that he could have turned around or backed up to avoid the bridge. On the other side of the bridge, there were Itasca police with a portable truck scale and about 50 trucks that had been pulled over and were all getting ticketed.
My husband was given an $8050 ticket for being overweight. The officer insisted that there were weight restriction signs posted all over the place, but my husband stated there weren't. In fact, my husband's cousin (who lives right there) even came and picked up my husband in his car and drove him through the construction zone again so that they could take pictures of all of the signs. I have all 15 pictures, and not a single one (except for the one on the bridge) says anything about weight restrictions.
Obviously this was a police scam to get money. We figured that from the 50 trucks they had pulled over, Itasca must have made at least $500,000 for about 1/2 hour of work. My husband even took pictures of some of the truckers yelling at the police. (Not a good thing to do, but I understand their frustration.) Obviously, if they really cared about safety, they would have had signs all over the place and the scale on the other side of the bridge (before you cross).
So now, how do we go about fighting this? Today is Oct. 6, and my husband has a hearing on Oct. 27. There is no way we should pay this ticket. (Not to mention that we don't even have anywhere near enough money to pay it!) I would love to know if there is some kind of law that requires a certain amount of signs to be posted before a construction zone weight limit. We have the pictures, but I know that isn't going to be enough proof. I would love to be able to quote some kind of state law to the judge in order to prove that there should have been more signs up or something. If anyone knows how to fight this, I would really appreciate your advice!
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
My husband is a truck driver. He was driving on Thorndale Rd. in Illinois, which is a designated truck route. As he was driving along, he saw several "Construction Zone Ahead" signs. He saw these for a few miles, but there were never any weight restriction signs. As he got up to a bridge, he was partially across it, when there was a small white sign (about 12" by 12") that stated new weight restrictions due to the construction. Unfortunately, by the time he saw it, he was already on the bridge. This bridge had all but two lanes (one each direction) closed. And he was surrounded by other trucks, so there was no way that he could have turned around or backed up to avoid the bridge. On the other side of the bridge, there were Itasca police with a portable truck scale and about 50 trucks that had been pulled over and were all getting ticketed.
My husband was given an $8050 ticket for being overweight. The officer insisted that there were weight restriction signs posted all over the place, but my husband stated there weren't. In fact, my husband's cousin (who lives right there) even came and picked up my husband in his car and drove him through the construction zone again so that they could take pictures of all of the signs. I have all 15 pictures, and not a single one (except for the one on the bridge) says anything about weight restrictions.
Obviously this was a police scam to get money. We figured that from the 50 trucks they had pulled over, Itasca must have made at least $500,000 for about 1/2 hour of work. My husband even took pictures of some of the truckers yelling at the police. (Not a good thing to do, but I understand their frustration.) Obviously, if they really cared about safety, they would have had signs all over the place and the scale on the other side of the bridge (before you cross).
So now, how do we go about fighting this? Today is Oct. 6, and my husband has a hearing on Oct. 27. There is no way we should pay this ticket. (Not to mention that we don't even have anywhere near enough money to pay it!) I would love to know if there is some kind of law that requires a certain amount of signs to be posted before a construction zone weight limit. We have the pictures, but I know that isn't going to be enough proof. I would love to be able to quote some kind of state law to the judge in order to prove that there should have been more signs up or something. If anyone knows how to fight this, I would really appreciate your advice!
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?