North Carolina DMV hands out more citations to non-truckers, newspaper reports

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."

© Copyright 2002. All rights reserved. All material on heraldsun.com is copyrighted by The Durham Herald Company and may not be reproduced or redistributed in any medium except as provided in the site's Terms of Use.

Here's a hint as to why this is so: "That's a big 10-4, good buddy!"

As I understand it, the primary function of North Carolina DMV Enforcement officers is to enforce the traffic & safety laws governing the commercial trucking industry.
The North Carolina Highway Patrol enforces the laws the average (non-commercial) driver is supposed to follow.
I do realize that CB radios help them evade DMV checkpoints, but, undoubtedly, so does the DMV.

At issue is why NCDMV officers are doing the job of the NCHP.

In North Carolina, more people are killed each year in accidents involving trucks than in accidents involving drunk drivers.

Do you have a source for that

If only we knew how many trucking violations the DMV has missed (and potential accidents could have been avoided) if they weren't:

"ticket-fixing, bribe-taking, on-the-job politicking and favoritism"
or
"often participat(ing) 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..."

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".

Yet the HP guys will get pissed off if you ask them if they've made their "quota".

I did just that when I went through a DWI checkpoint in another county recently.
My wife was w/ me and after the Trooper looked at my license & waved me on, I smiled and said "Hope y'all make your quota tonight!"
I do not think he appreciated that.

Yea, verily. I hope that I did not come across as being sarcastic when I actually was bemoaning the state of affairs in my home state and in others in which I have lived.

In a few instances, the troopers have been found to be "on the take" and disproportionatley bust the shoes of non-truckers to make their monthly quotas.

Nothing can compare to the thrill you get when you've been pulled over for doing 68 in a 65 mph zone and watch as trucks roar by at 80 + mph -- as seen on the screen of the cruiser's radar readout...

Note to the motoring public:

If you see a car/pickup with flashing lights, red flags, and "OVERSIZE LOAD" signs driving before and/or trailing after a supersize load.....

please, please, for your own safety, give them a wide berth.

DO NOT try to drive between the escorts and the load.

Thank you,
Bright Eyes Flag Cars

I hope that I did not come across as being sarcastic when I actually was bemoaning the state of affairs in my home state...

A FReeper?!? Sarcastic?
Never happen. 8^)

In a few instances, the troopers have been found to be "on the take"...

You may find this story interesting:
(NC Secretary of Transportation) Tippett Says Action Coming In DMV Investigation.

Nothing can compare to the thrill you get when you've been pulled over for doing 68 in a 65 mph zone and watch as trucks roar by at 80 + mph -- as seen on the screen of the cruiser's radar readout...

I have a heavy foot and have been there and done that.
It's a good thing they give those troopers big guns.

FRegards,
CD

"In North Carolina, more people are killed each year in accidents involving trucks than in accidents involving drunk drivers."

The other statistic you don't mention is that about 80% (according to the NHTSA) are caused by the actions of a 4 wheeler, the most primary of these being impatient and making an unsafe/illegal pass. IIRC the second most frequent cause is someone passing on the right.

Mechanical failures of any kind represent a small percentage of accident causes, far less than mechanical failures (mostly tires) involving passenger cars. If you don't think that DOT is doing it's job, just ask the owner of almost any trucking company how much he paid in fines last year. DOT here in /FL can and will invent violations and rememeber that all DOT fines have to be paid on the spot, in cash or the truck is impounded. Fines range from the necessary, to the ridiculous. I once paid a $150 fine for having an accessory light not required by the standards inoperable. DOT writes the lots of non moving violations because they don't put points on your CDL, and they know that truckers don't have the time to fight over small fines. Ever see those big barns at the back of the scalehouses? You can hear the cash register ring everytime they deign to pull some unfortunate soul into one. DOT gets to keep all of the revenue from the fines they generate instead of putting the money into the general funds to be doled out come state budget time. Think that might provide an incentive to write someone up?

Professional truckers drive grossly more hours/miles without an accident than your average motorist. It's obvious that many here have some story to tell, but by and large the goods get delivered safely. If you heard about every 4 wheeler that did something stupid, FR would be out of bandwidth.

Next time you purchase anything, anything at all, remember how that product eventually got to the market. It got there on a truck.

I've lived in this state for 16 years and have never quite figured out why there are 2 separate law enforcement agencies, DMV and Highway Patrol.
Heck, I was baffled by the fact that I had to go to separate agencies to get a drivers license and tags for my car.

As to why there are 2 separate highway LE agencies, who knows?
There is an HP District Commander in a group I belong to; when I see him maybe he can explain it.

I believe that the DMV license offices are run by the state and the tag offices are run by private contractors.
Why, I'm not sure.

FRegards,
CD

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