PHILLIPS, HENDRICKSON, GRAHAM (24) AND OSTMANN.
Read 1st time January 20, 2000, and 1000 copies ordered printed.
ANNE C. WALKER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal section 304.190, RSMo 1994, and sections 304.010, 304.015 and 304.230, RSMo Supp. 1999, relating to traffic regulations for trucks, and to enact in lieu thereof four new sections relating to the same subject, with penalty provisions.
Section A. Section 304.190, RSMo 1994, and sections 304.010, 304.015 and 304.230, RSMo Supp. 1999, are repealed and four new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 304.010, 304.015, 304.190 and 301.230, to read as follows:
304.010. 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
(1) "Expressway", a divided highway of at least ten miles in length with four or more lanes which is not part of the federal interstate system of highways which has crossovers or accesses from streets, roads or other highways at the same grade level as such divided highway;
(2) "Freeway", a limited access divided highway of at least ten miles in length with four or more lanes which is not part of the federal interstate system of highways which does not have any crossovers or accesses from streets, roads or other highways at the same grade level as such divided highway within such ten miles of divided highway;
(3) "Rural interstate", that part of the federal interstate highway system that is not located in an urban area;
(4) "Urbanized area", an area of fifty thousand population at a density at or greater than one thousand persons per square mile.
2. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the uniform maximum speed limits are and no vehicle shall be operated in excess of the speed limits established pursuant to this section:
(1) Upon the rural interstates and freeways of this state, seventy miles per hour; except that, for trucks weighing over twelve tons, including cargo, upon the rural interstates and freeways of this state, sixty miles per hour;
(2) Upon the rural expressways of this state, sixty-five miles per hour; except that, for trucks weighing over twelve tons, including cargo, upon the rural expressways of this state, sixty miles per hour;
(3) Upon the interstate highways, freeways or expressways within the urbanized areas of this state, sixty miles per hour;
(4) All other roads and highways in this state not located in an urbanized area and not provided for in subdivisions (1) to (3) of this subsection, sixty miles per hour;
(5) All other roads provided for in subdivision (4) of this subsection shall not include any state two-lane road which is identified by letter. Such lettered roads shall not exceed fifty-five miles per hour unless set at a higher speed as established by the department of transportation, except that no speed limit shall be set higher than sixty miles per hour;
(6) For the purposes of enforcing the speed limit laws of this state, it is a rebuttable presumption that the posted speed limit is the legal speed limit.
3. On any state road or highway where the speed limit is not set pursuant to a local ordinance, the highways and transportation commission may set a speed limit higher or lower than the uniform maximum speed limit provided in subsection 2 of this section, if a higher or lower speed limit is recommended by the department of transportation. The department of public safety, where it believes for safety reasons, or to expedite the flow of traffic a higher or lower speed limit is warranted, may request the department of transportation to raise or lower such speed limit, except that no speed limit shall be set higher than:
(1) Sixty miles per hour for trucks weighing over twelve tons, including cargo; or
(2) Seventy miles per hour for all other vehicles.
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 304.120 or any other provision of law to the contrary, cities, towns and villages may regulate the speed of vehicles on state roads and highways within such cities', towns' or villages' corporate limits by ordinance with the approval of the state highways and transportation commission. Any reduction of speed in cities, towns or villages shall be designed to expedite the flow of traffic on such state roads and highways to the extent consistent with public safety. The commission may declare any ordinance void if it finds that such ordinance is:
(1) Not primarily designed to expedite traffic flow; and
(2) Primarily designed to produce revenue for the city, town or village which enacted such ordinance.
If an ordinance is declared void, the city, town or village shall have any future proposed ordinance approved by the highways and transportation commission before such ordinance may take effect.
5. The county commission of any county of the second, third or fourth classification may set the speed limit or the weight limit or both the speed limit and the weight limit on roads or bridges on any county, township or road district road in the county and, with the approval of the state highways and transportation commission, on any state road or highway not within the limits of any incorporated city, town or village, lower than the uniform maximum speed limit as provided in subsection 2 of this section where the condition of the road or the nature of the area requires a lower speed. The commission shall send copies of any order establishing a speed limit or weight limit on roads and bridges on a county, township or road district road in the county to the chief engineer of the state department of transportation, the superintendent of the state highway patrol and to any township or road district maintaining roads in the county. After the roads have been properly marked by signs indicating the speed limits and weight limits set by the county commission, the speed limits and weight limits shall be of the same effect as the speed limits provided for in subsection [1] 2 of this section and shall be enforced by the state highway patrol and the county sheriff as if such speed limits and weight limits were established by state law.
6. All road signs indicating speed limits or weight limits shall be uniform in size, shape, lettering and coloring and shall conform to standards established by the department of transportation.
7. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to alter any speed limit set below fifty-five miles per hour by any ordinance of any county, city, town or village of the state adopted before March 13, 1996.
8. The speed limits established pursuant to this section shall not apply to the operation of any emergency vehicle as defined in section 304.022.
9. A violation of the provisions of this section shall not be construed to relieve the parties in any civil action on any claim or counterclaim from the burden of proving negligence or contributory negligence as the proximate cause of any accident or as the defense to a negligence action.
10. Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a class C misdemeanor, unless such person was exceeding the posted speed limit by twenty miles per hour or more then it is a class B misdemeanor.
304.015. 1. All vehicles not in motion shall be placed with their right side as near the right-hand side of the highway as practicable, except on streets of municipalities where vehicles are obliged to move in one direction only or parking of motor vehicles is regulated by ordinance.
2. Upon all public roads or highways of sufficient width a vehicle shall be driven upon the right half of the roadway, except as follows:
(1) When overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction pursuant to the rules governing such movement;
(2) When placing a vehicle in position for and when such vehicle is lawfully making a left turn in compliance with the provisions of sections 304.014 to 304.026 or traffic regulations thereunder or of municipalities;
(3) When the right half of a roadway is closed to traffic while under construction or repair;
(4) Upon a roadway designated by local ordinance as a one-way street and marked or signed for one-way traffic.
3. It is unlawful to drive any vehicle upon any highway or road which has been divided into two or more roadways by means of a physical barrier or by means of a dividing section or delineated by curbs, lines or other markings on the roadway, except to the right of such barrier or dividing section, or to make any left turn or semicircular or U-turn on any such divided highway, except in a crossover or intersection.
4. The authorities in charge of any highway or the state highway patrol may erect signs temporarily designating lanes to be used by traffic moving in a particular direction, regardless of the center line of the highway, and all members of the Missouri highway patrol and other peace officers may direct traffic in conformance with such signs. When authorized signs have been erected designating off-center traffic lanes, no person shall disobey the instructions given by such signs.
5. Whenever any roadway has been divided into three or more clearly marked lanes for traffic, the following rules in addition to all others consistent herewith shall apply:
(1) A vehicle shall be driven as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane and shall not be moved from such lane until the driver has first ascertained that such movement can be made with safety;
(2) Upon a roadway which is divided into three lanes a vehicle shall not be driven in the center lane, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle where the roadway ahead is clearly visible and such center lane is clear of traffic within a safe distance, or in preparation for a left turn or where such center lane is at the time allocated exclusively to traffic moving in the direction the vehicle is proceeding and is sign-posted to give notice of such allocation;
(3) Upon all highways any vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic thereon shall be driven in the right-hand lane for traffic or as close as practicable to the right-hand edge or curb, except as otherwise provided in sections 304.014 to 304.026;
(4) Official signs may be erected by the highways and transportation commission or the highway patrol may place temporary signs directing slow moving traffic to use a designated lane or allocating specified lanes to traffic moving in the same direction and drivers of vehicles shall obey the directions of every such sign;
(5) Drivers of vehicles proceeding in opposite directions shall pass each other to the right, and except when a roadway has been divided into traffic lanes, each driver shall give to the other at least one-half of the main traveled portion of the roadway whenever possible.
6. All vehicles in motion upon a highway having two or more lanes of traffic proceeding in the same direction shall be driven in the right-hand lane except when overtaking and passing another vehicle or when preparing to make a proper left turn or when otherwise directed by traffic markings, signs or signals.
7. The department of transportation shall have the authority to designate the lanes in which all trucks weighing more than twelve tons, including cargo, in motion upon a highway having three or more lanes of traffic proceeding in the same direction shall be driven, except that such regulations shall not apply when such trucks are overtaking and passing another vehicle or when preparing to make a proper left turn or when otherwise directed by traffic markings, signs or signals.
8. Violation of this section shall be deemed an infraction unless such violation causes an immediate threat of an accident, in which case such violation shall be deemed a class C misdemeanor, or unless an accident results from such violation, in which case such violation shall be deemed a class A misdemeanor.
304.190. 1. No motor vehicle, unladen or with load, operating exclusively within the corporate limits of cities containing seventy-five thousand inhabitants or more or within two miles of the corporate limits of the city or within the commercial zone of the city shall exceed fifteen feet in height.
2. No motor vehicle operating exclusively within any [said] area described in subsection 1 of this section shall have a greater weight than twenty-two thousand four hundred pounds on one axle.
3. The "commercial zone" of the city [is defined to mean] means that area within the city together with the territory extending one mile beyond the corporate limits of the city and one mile additional for each fifty thousand population or portion thereof [provided, however,]; except that:
(1) The commercial zone surrounding a city not within a county shall extend eighteen miles beyond the corporate limits of any such city not located within a county and shall also extend throughout any [first class charter] county of the first classification with a charter form of government which adjoins that city and throughout any county of the first classification which adjoins that county of the first classification with a charter form of government; [further, provided, however,] and
(2) The commercial zone of a city with a population of at least four hundred thousand inhabitants but not more than four hundred fifty thousand inhabitants shall extend twelve miles beyond the corporate limits of any such city. In no case shall the commercial zone of a city be reduced due to a loss of population.
4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to motor vehicles operating on the interstate highways in the area beyond two miles of a corporate limit of the city unless the United States Department of Transportation increases the allowable weight limits on the interstate highway system within commercial zones. In such case, the mileage limits established in this section shall be automatically increased only in the commercial zones to conform with those authorized by the United States Department of Transportation.
[4.] 5. Nothing in this section shall prevent a city, county, or municipality, by ordinance, from designating the routes over which such vehicles may be operated.
304.230. 1. It shall be the duty of the sheriff of each county or city to see that the provisions of sections 304.170 to 304.230 are enforced, and any peace officer or police officer of any county or city or any highway patrol officer shall have the power to arrest on sight or upon a warrant any person found violating or having violated the provisions of such sections.
2. The sheriff or any peace officer or any highway patrol officer is hereby given the power to stop any such conveyance or vehicle as above described upon the public highway for the purpose of determining whether such vehicle is loaded in excess of the provisions of sections 304.170 to 304.230, and if he or she finds such vehicle loaded in violation of the provisions thereof he or she shall have a right at that time and place to cause the excess load to be removed from such vehicle; and provided further, that any regularly employed maintenance man of the department of transportation shall have the right and authority in any part of this state to stop any such conveyance or vehicle upon the public highway for the purpose of determining whether such vehicle is loaded in excess of the provisions of sections 304.170 to 304.230, and if he or she finds such vehicle loaded in violation of the provisions thereof, he or she shall have the right at that time and place to cause the excess load to be removed from such vehicle. When only an axle or a tandem axle group of a vehicle is overloaded, the operator shall be permitted to shift the load, if this will not overload some other axle or axles, without being charged with a violation; provided, however, the privilege of shifting the weight without being charged with a violation shall not extend to or include vehicles while traveling on the federal interstate system of highways. When only an axle or tandem axle group of the vehicle traveling on the federal interstate system of highways is overloaded and a court authorized to enforce the provisions of sections 304.170 to 304.230 finds that the overloading was due to the inadvertent shifting of the load changing axle weights in transit through no fault of the operator of the vehicle and that the load thereafter had been shifted so that no axle had been overloaded, then the court may find that no violation has been committed. The operator of any vehicle shall be permitted to back up and reweigh, or to turn around and weigh from the opposite direction. Any operator whose vehicle is weighed and found to be within five percent of any legal limit may request and receive a weight ticket, memorandum or statement showing the weight or weights on each axle or any combinations of axles. Once a vehicle is found to be within the limits of section 304.180 after having been weighed on any state scale and there is no evidence that any cargo or fuel has been added, no violation shall occur, but a presumption shall exist that cargo or fuel has been added if upon reweighing on another state scale the total gross weight exceeds the applicable limits of section 304.180 or 304.190. The highways and transportation commission of this state may deputize and appoint any number of their regularly employed maintenance men to enforce the provisions of such sections, and the maintenance men delegated and appointed in this section shall report to the proper officers any violations of sections 304.170 to 304.230 for prosecution by such proper officers.
3. Any operator who knowingly avoids a weigh station shall be guilty of a violation pursuant to section 304.240. Any operator knowingly avoids a weigh station when he or she exits any highway, proceeds along an outer road, passes any weigh station and then reenters the same highway in the same direction as before, provided that such operator had actual knowledge of such weigh station, as demonstrated by a road sign or any other means, prior to exiting such highway.
4. The superintendent of the Missouri state highway patrol may assign qualified persons who are not highway patrol officers to supervise or operate permanent or portable weigh stations used in the enforcement of commercial vehicle laws. These persons shall be designated as commercial vehicle inspectors and have limited police powers:
(1) To issue uniform traffic tickets at a permanent or portable weigh station for violations of rules and regulations of the division of motor carrier and railroad safety of the department of economic development and department of public safety, and laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to commercial motor vehicles and trailers and related to size, weight, fuel tax, registration, equipment, driver requirements, transportation of hazardous materials and operators' or chauffeurs' licenses, avoidance of weigh stations, and the provisions of sections 303.024 and 303.025, RSMo;
(2) To require the operator of any commercial vehicle to stop and submit to a vehicle and driver inspection to determine compliance with commercial vehicle laws, rules, and regulations, the provisions of sections 303.024 and 303.025, RSMo, and to submit to a cargo inspection when reasonable grounds exist to cause belief that a vehicle is transporting hazardous materials as defined by Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations;
(3) To make arrests for violation of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection. Commercial vehicle inspectors shall not have the authority to exercise the powers granted in subdivisions (1), (2) and (3) of this subsection until they have successfully completed training approved by the superintendent of the Missouri state highway patrol; nor shall they have the right as peace officers to bear arms.
[4.] 5. The superintendent of the Missouri state highway patrol may appoint qualified persons, who are not members of the highway patrol, designated as commercial vehicle enforcement officers, with the powers:
(1) To issue uniform traffic tickets for violations of laws, rules and regulations pertaining to commercial vehicles, trailers, special mobile equipment and drivers of such vehicles, and the provisions of sections 303.024 and 303.025, RSMo;
(2) To require the operator of any commercial vehicle to stop and submit to a vehicle and driver inspection to determine compliance with commercial vehicle laws, rules, and regulations, compliance with the provisions of sections 303.024 and 303.025, RSMo, and to submit to a cargo inspection when reasonable grounds exist to cause belief that a vehicle is transporting hazardous materials as defined by Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations;
(3) To make arrests upon warrants and for violations of subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection. Commercial vehicle enforcement officers shall not have the authority to exercise the powers granted in subdivisions (1), (2) and (3) of this subsection until they have successfully completed training approved by the superintendent of the Missouri state highway patrol. Commercial vehicle enforcement officers shall have the right as peace officers to bear arms.
[5.] 6. Any additional employees needed for the implementation of this section shall be hired in conformity with the provisions of the federal fair employment and antidiscrimination acts.
[6.] 7. Any part of this section which shall be construed to be in conflict with the axle or tandem axle load limits
permitted by the Federal-Aid Highway Act, Section 127 of Title 23 of the United States Code (Public Law 85-767, 85th
Congress) shall be null, void and of no effect.
Missouri House of Representatives