Secure Your Load

Washington state recently passed a law requiring all loads in open vehicles to be secured with ropes, bungees, tarps, etc. Failure to comply is a $194 ticket.

Today, the Totally Awesome Missus Murff & I went to our local county Refuse Transfer Station (dump). We had already loaded up our '70 F150 with typical debris - storm damage, left over junk from the Falcon, so on. We covered our load with a tarp and secured with bungee's as we have always done. (This is beginning to read like we had a problem. We did not.)

About 1/2 mile from the dump we saw a state patrol unit pull over a guy with an unsecured load. I mentioned this to the gal at the booth at the dump and she said this is happening at all transfer stations. On the way out there were five staters with trucks pulled over. I assume there was another five covering the road from the other direction.

We think this is AWESOME! Ever spend the day washing & waxing your pride & joy, go out for a cruise and get behind some Sanford & Son operation with a truck or trailer hauling who knows what and have crap & debris flying out & on to your car? I have and I hate it.

The law goes deeper than just an annoyance at getting a clean car dirty. There have been many instances here where debris has gone through the windshields of cars, blinding, maiming and nearly killing the occupants. I am sure there are similar instances in your own areas. One such instance here was actually the catalyst for this law to be enacted.

So this is a rave for a highway law that I truly believe in. If you are one of the humans that have been cited under this law, well suck it up and next time secure your load.

If you have not been cited, maybe by reading this you will avoid such a fine (whether a similar law exists in your area or not) and avoid causing harm to a fellow human by taking the extra ten minutes and tying down your load.

Ok. I'm off my soapbox.

Blue skies and green lights to all.

Murff

Are they really enforcing a law to make the roads safer for you by lining up at the refuse station after these guys have already driven for miles instead of patrolling the roads and properly enforcing all the laws of the road....instead of just the newest one that will make them more revenue?

And....no, I don't live there, don't haul unsecured loads, and so that means I don't have a pony in this race, just thought I would ask that question.
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Murff you know why this started right? It was winter of 06 maybe around feb and some dude lost a tarp on his truck going south on I-5 through federal way anyways some lady got on her brakes, and behind her was a tow truck towing a bus anyways she was killed and so were a few other people the tow truck busted through the median and closed down I-5 for a few hours that night. I remember it so well because I saw it happen it was really foggy that night a few other accidents happend and people died but that was the worst at like 2 dead i think and 3 or 4 people really really messed up. So yeah I am glad they got that law passed.

You gott'a start somewhere...

Much as I like to stand up for the 'little guy, I really, really - I mean - really hate BS, revenue laws that are disguised as Health and safety violations - but in this case, I think its a great step in the right direction. Most states already have exceptions for water and feathers, 'cause there just aren't any effective ways to stop either, nor is there much danger.

But I have to agree with tarps being used to cover loads. I have had way too many windshields, hoods and general paint damaged by crap fliying off the back of trucks or kicked up by big rigs speeding down the road. At the speed most of them are running (55 mph, whats that?) - their wheel flaps are nothing but Kites, blowing in the wind. They laugh at you if your report them. Cops are too busy making that doughnut run to chase 'em down. [img]/forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

As long as they actually enforce the law, on dump trucks as well as civilians - I'm all for it. The only thing that gets me more PO-ed than abuse of power, is preferential treatment for companies, corporations and government ... when its not evenly enforced it makes the whole idea of rules into a popularity contest. I still see red when I see a cop blasting down the freeway at 80, no L&S, not wearing seatbelts.

Question: do they belt a prisoner in, before moving the car?

_________________
..."The truth is that there is nothing noble in being superior to somebody else. The only real nobility is in being superior to your former self...”--Whitney Young

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Beoweolf on 4/30/07 6:05am ]</font>

" Are they really enforcing a law to make the roads safer for you by lining up at the refuse station after these guys have already driven for miles instead of patrolling the roads and properly enforcing all the laws of the road....instead of just the newest one that will make them more revenue"

Wa. state troopers are pretty aggressive all the time to all violators. This stretch of road where the dump is located is on a state highway so they have jursidiction. The dump operators have also been empowered to charge a $10.00 penalty fee to anyone coming in with an unsecured load. I know it kind of appears to be like fishing in the hatchery but unfortunately it is the average Joe that is the largest offender, on his way for a quick dump run.

I don't think this is merely a 'revenue generator'. This law has actually been in effect since '05 but has been largely ignored by the general public.

The crash on I5 that dbu8554 mentioned happened after the law was in effect. A young woman named Federici was travelling on I405 when a base from a Lazy Boy type chair came through her windshield and basically destroyed her face. I did not know her but in the before photos she was quite attractive. She is now blind, partially deaf and her life will never be the same.

I'm not a holier than thou kind of guy (most of you have seen my video clips) and I 'occasionally' cherry pick the laws I'm going to obey on a given day. This is just one of those laws that is actually meant to be a preventative measure and it is so simple to comply with.

I have seen state troopers coming down on ramps, cell phone up to their ear, laughing, on what appears to be a personal call and our state is currently trying to ban cell phone useage in cars. And those 18 wheelers? They must be getting easier to drive than ever judging by the number of the drivers I see with cell phone in one hand and coffee in the other hand.

But that's a rant for another day.

Murff

Murff you never drove an 18 wheeler with your knee before you must be some kinda amateur [img]/forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] Anyways I moved out of WA because of WA state patrol they are nazi bastards and love to give BS tickets thats the only reason i left the state

I was behind a guy towing a flat bed trailer that had broken windshield glass all over it. Apparently they had just dumped an old car somewhere. The guy was flying down the road with his trailer bouncing and off-loading shards of glass on everyone. Called the cops. Lost site of him because he was traveling so fast. As I pulled into next town I saw him and the HP having a discussion on side of the road[img]/forums/images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

Murff,

If you remember last summer there was the guy who lost the metal shelving unit on I-5 up in Lynnwood and when the guy in the Honda swerved to miss it he got clobbered by a 18 wheeler. Guy driving the Honda died and guy who dropped the shelves hot footed it out of the area. They caught up with him later and arrested him and I believe he got charged with manslaughter under the new laws.
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Stuff like that happens constantly here. Worst of them all is dump trucks. A few weeks ago a good friend and I decided to take a trip on her bike up to a resort community about an hour & a half from here. Weather was PURRFECT, sun shining, 85 degrees and we were both off work. Anyway, we hopped on the bike and about halfway there we went thru a small town and got behind a dumptruck full of sand. There were cars behind us as well. Basically we (and the bike) got sandblasted going 60 mph. It did NOT feel good by any means....first opportunity we got we pulled off and let the other cars get in front of us so we werent the ones getting pelted by teeny tiny bullets. Both of us had full-face helmets but it still hurt around our necks & hands.

There are laws like what you describe here as well. Sadly, none of them are enforced. Most of the time you'll see the highway cops sitting on the side of the road when cars & trucks pass them running 80-85 mph. Makes me wonder what their job really is? But, they'll sit within 5 miles of any sides of a race track trying to nail anyone going a little too fast. Never mind if someone's swerving all over the road drunk, long as he's under the speed limit, he's OK. I've been "hit" a couple times leaving the drag strip...and both times I was at the speed limit, but they just wanted to make sure...and check the truck out for any illegal stuff...which I don't have. One night I had a cop stop me (I was over the speed limit), tear all of the carpet out of my Maverick, cut open the spare tire, seats, tear half the dash apart...and let me go with a warning. Of course that took me the better part of a year to repair everything...and there was no way that the small town piss ant police department was going to help with any repairs. I will not ever forget that cop...

There was a law passed recently, though, that if you have a lawn mower or bush hog, you MUST have some sort of deflector on it to keep from throwing objects very far. Last year a lady was decapitated while driving her car past a highway department bush hog that apparently hit some road debris. The debris exited the bush hog at some speed, went through the side window and cut her head off. Not long after that, there was a girl (19 yrs old I think) that was killed about 15 minutes from here....a big rig re-cap tire came apart and the tread went through the windshield and killed her.

On the flip side of all that, there are so many cars & trucks on the road and so many things that COULD go wrong (just by sheer volume) that something is GOING to happen reguardless of how many precautions we take.
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On 2007-04-29 16:40, 63SportsCoupe wrote:
I was behind a guy towing a flat bed trailer that had broken windshield glass all over it. Apparently they had just dumped an old car somewhere. The guy was flying down the road with his trailer bouncing and off-loading shards of glass on everyone. Called the cops. Lost site of him because he was traveling so fast. As I pulled into next town I saw him and the HP having a discussion on side of the road[img]/forums/images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]




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This happens every time I haul a car to the crusher. The crane jaws grab and lift the car through the windshield and the side windows and shatters the laminated glass. Windshield glass just caves in. Most of the laminated falls off of my trailer driving through the potholes coming back to the scales. The bit that may be left on my runners falls off on the street and will NOT cut a tire nor does it kick up. The local nor OSP cops don't consider shattered laminated glass a safety hazard as I've discussed it with them. Rocks, stones and gravel loads left untarped p*ss me off. I had my Lincoln's windshield chipped deeply enough it'll need replaced...sounded like a gunshot!, when a rock evidently blew off of a truck that was somewhere ahead of me. It startled me badly enough that I had a city cop come to the house and confirm that I hadn't been shot at.

Jan