Got pulled in by D.O.T.

Some of the stuff they write you for and puts points on your CSA makes no sense. I agree that if it's daylight and you replace the bulb immediately they "should" let it slide but it just seems like it depends on if the officer is in a good mood or not. I had a short in my visor clearance lights and they were out when I pulled onto a scale in NM, I tapped on the visor and they came on and the guy let it go (got it fixed the next day and would not have said a word if he would've written it up). The next week in TX I got CSA points under Fatigued Driving for not having the "from and to" section of the log filled out. I guess my point is it seems like it has less to do with actual safety and more to do with whether the particular officer is in a mood or doesn't like your looks.

 

those little conventions are the exact reason i try to do all of my driving after 2000hrs and before 0800hrs.

 

Letter of the law and spirit of the law used to be a critical part of common sense, unforgettably common sense is a uncommon virtue any more.

 

a tire blowing as you're approaching a scale, should have a curve, a tire blowing on the scale, should have a curve, lights blowing in transit after a pretrip, and before it gets dark should have a curve, especially if you can change it on the spot.

 

Any officer CAN use discretion, but they are not required too. The fact of the matter is, the officer saw a violation. Common sense tells me, that will probably get written up.

 

if a train hits another train in a switching yard, the conductor gets written up, why? because it was avoidable.. a train hits a car on the tracks, nothing is said to the conductor, why? because it wasn't avoidable..

an exhaust leak on a truck gets written up at the scale house, why? because it should have been spotted during a pretrip.... a blown tail light that's discovered at 11am... should have a curve to it, why? If the driver started at 5am and during his pretrip the light was working, and was working when he turned them off at 8am, how would the driver know that it blew in transit at 9:45am? and the fact that the driver has a replacement should be even more of a reason for it not to get written up.

 

Because it is not about safety, revenue, revenue, revenue.

 

Not always. I have been put out of service, for an inspection, with no citation. The inspector even escorted us back to town, to get the repair done, so we didn't have to call out road service.

 

and the law should be black and white, not black white and some grey, and the officer the one allowed to hold the crayon.. because then the only thing the determins if you get written up or not is the officers attitude which is really determined by how their day is currently. Which is even worse because if their spouse made a lousy pot of coffee, then a driver somewhere may very well be getting a violation for a marker light that comes on slower then the rest of it's buddies.