DMV hands out more citations to non-truckers, newspaper reports
The Associated Press
April 24, 2002 12:58 am
Posted on 04/24/2002 6:39:56 AM PDT by Constitution Day
The Associated Press
DMV hands out more citations to non-truckers, newspaper reports
April 24, 2002 12:58 am
ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- The state agency charged with monitoring the trucking industry issues citations to non-truckers nine times more often than truckers, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported Wednesday.
The newspaper analysis of court records appeared to support allegations that the Division of Motor Vehicles may act leniently toward the industry it is expected to monitor.
The 9-1 ratio also adds ammunition to DMV critics' claims it duplicates policing activities of the Highway Patrol.
The State Bureau of Investigation for two years has been looking into allegations of ticket-fixing, bribe-taking, on-the-job politicking and favoritism when enforcing truck-safety regulations.
DMV Col. David Richards said his own analysis of the records does not support the newspaper's findings, and he insisted that the DMV does focus on the truckers.
"Our mission is looking at commercial motor vehicles," he said, adding that DMV will still cite any motorists breaking laws.
But the results of the Citizen-Times' database analysis did not surprise critics of the DMV. Rep. Larry Justus, R-Henderson, said legislative hearings in 1997-98 revealed a similar pattern of the agency citing non-truckers more than truckers.
Justus said he believes the agency should be focusing its attention on the trucking industry.
"That's what they're basically there for. They were never designed to supplant the Highway Patrol."
The newspaper obtained records from the Administrative Office of the Courts spanning from Jan. 1, 2000, through March. Not every DMV case is in the database because of the recording system used by the state, but the office of the courts says it collected all cases where it could identify DMV involvement.
Officers write two types of charges on citations: criminal offenses and infractions. Criminal offenses are more serious, and include violations such as driving while impaired and speeding more than 15 mph over the limit. Infractions include seat belt violations and, for truckers, not staying in designated lanes.
Out of 32,771 criminal cases statewide, 29,159 involved people who did not have a commercial driver's license. Only 3,612 involved commercial driver's license holders.
Those numbers do not include the citations DMV officers write to truckers for violations of federal motor carrier regulations. Those tickets are civil, not criminal, and result only in fines.
Data on federal civil citations is sent to Raleigh, and does not pass through the state court system.
"I've had a perception for a long time that they do write of lot of citizens' tickets," Buncombe County District Attorney Ron Moore said. "It's been something I've been unhappy about for many years, because I don't think that's their job."
Richards said that DMV officers conduct thousands of roadside truck inspections, check to ensure vehicles are using the correct diesel fuel and patrol work zones and highway rest areas.
In addition, because DMV officers often participate in statewide enforcement actions such as the seat belt campaign "Click it or Ticket" and the drunken driving crackdown known as "Booze it and Lose it," the agency's numbers for non-trucker citations may be skewed higher, the DMV suggests.
In 2000, DMV supervisors installed what some termed a quota on the number of trucking stops, mandating that officers conduct an average of five truck enforcement actions per day, among other requirements.
Frustration with the requirements led Rowan County DMV officer Mark Gravitte in November 2000 to file a federal lawsuit against DMV and Department of Transportation leaders that sought to force the agencies to stop requiring a minimum number of stops.
That lawsuit, which the state Police Benevolent Association joined, was later dismissed by a federal district court judge. Last month, a federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., upheld that dismissal.
DMV supervisors like Richards say officers should ticket non-truckers who are clearly violating state traffic laws. But he says DMV officers' primary responsibility should be to enforce truck-safety rules and to conduct safety inspections on big rigs.
Richards also defends the agency's requirements that officers conduct a minimum number of inspections, saying that requiring officers to conduct stops is not the same as requiring them to produce a minimum number of citations or convictions.
"They are expected to go out there and do a job," the colonel said. "I think the taxpayers expect them to pull a shift, an eight-hour day. It's a performance measurement."
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It's the same here in the eastern part of the state.
I can count on my two hands the number of times I have EVER seen an 18-wheeler pulled over by a DMV officer, even on I-95.
I see many log trucks that appear to be overloaded or unsafe around Rocky Mount & Wilson, but DMV is nowhere to be seen.
Well put.
Another NC FReeper once described the state Highway Patrol as being "road agents" for the insurance companies.
I guess the DMV decided to help'em make their quota.
In other words, Gov. Mike "Taxe$" Easley's little helpers?
Go figure.....
I wonder how many tickets a day DMV and HP guys have to write to pay their salary and their share of district expenses. DMV is definately a money making enterprise under the guise of "vehilce safety".
Are'nt there some states that don't have vehilce inspectons?...I had a roommate from Kentucky once who said that there was no state vehicle inspection.
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