Need to dispute a ticket. want to know my chances

You're joking right? You have a defective brake and are actually going to try and fight the citation. Yep that makes trucker sence to me. I was in the wrong but, hey I drive a truck for a liveing so I should be able to do as I please. By your own admission the brake was defective.

 

Yeah, that's a losing battle. You knew the part was missing. Automatic slack adjuster or not, that needed to be fixed a long time ago.

No offense.. and certainly not trying to make a personal remark, but that line of thinking is why DOT blitzes us! If not for a small pin, what next? Missing lug nuts? I'm saying... wouldn't it scare you to read something like that from another driver besides yourself?

I wouldn't have even risked trying to get to a shop like that, let alone just jury rigging it along until a blitz got you busted.

I recommend paying the ticket. Your penalties risk being much larger if you try to fight it. Learn from it and don't jury rig any more stuff. Wouldn't want to hear about you having a major mechanical malfunction resulting in injury.. or worse.

Be safe out there!

 

talking to an experienced atttorney will increase your odds !!!!

 

NEVER ever .............

Just pay the ticket,

consult an attorney...first call is free usually !!!!

 

Read 393.53... I think he cited you for the wrong thing. Every truck built after 1994 has to have auto-slacks. If you're missing in pin, technically it's in violation. I don't have time to dig into the OOS criteria to see if it qualifies, but I'm with you that it's kind of BS if it was adjusted up and the slack adjuster wasn't slipping (Some autoslacks will not hold if the sensor rod is loose.) HOWEVER, getting the judge to understand the difference between a brake being operative and a slack adjuster that wouldn't self-adjust may be an uphill fight.

Good luck.... and go buy a freaking clevis pin!

Edit: Just looked closer at your pic... buy 2 clevis pins! You should never use a bolt where a pin belongs, except as an emergency fix!

 

The thing came with a pin, you didn't have one and knew it. That's wrong, period.

Officer: Uh driver where's your steering wheel?

Driver: Well it kinda fell off, but I've been driving just fine using these vise grips.

Officer: Since Bill Engvall does "Here's your sign", I do "here's your ticket"!

 

The pin is like, what , 5 cents???? You knew it was gone but still did not replace it. Instead you just climbed under the truck and adjusted your brakes manually??? Now you are crying about failing an inspection?????

You deserve the smudge on your record.

 

well by also looking at your picture, by using the nut/bolt you had rendered the automatic adjuster useless, and this does not allow the brakes to stay in adjustment. problem i have having with your posting is that ignorance is not bliss..you knew the 72 hour inspections were coming, but frankly, as a driver, you know that at ANY TIME you can be pulled into a DOT station and be given an inspection. what would you have done then..??

can you fight the ticket..?? sure, you can fight just about anything you want...but will you win, is yet another question. you may have gotten lucky your last time in court, but now you are dealing with the brake system, are you really feeling lucky now..?????

from what i am able to see, i see 2 things here..

1) you showed lack of common sense to get the vehicle repaired properly when this clevis pin was first found to be missing.

2) you show you have no concern for your brakes to always be in PROPER adjustment at all times.

now i wonder, that is of course if you are an o/o, and that is "what kind of an o/o are you"..??

1) a poor one hurting for money,

2) a renegade that just does not give a flip about his own and the public safety


you asked for "wisdom", well i'll "give you" some wisdom.....

in either situation, maybe its time you got rid of your truck and became either a company driver for a company that WILL FIX things

or just retire altogether...

i have no sympathy for you, the ticket you got, and the price that some day YOU WILL ultimately pay for your lack of common sense.