Cited for driving in high winds.

Here's an excellent video of a truck being blown over by high winds. I don't mess with wind and in my 2013 Cascadia you can't hear the wind because the truck is so tight but you sure can feel it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-q4TYo7jO8

 

Ive seen the signs lit up many ttimes recently stating that 395 and 580 have high winds and that trucks and rv's are prohibited. You likely got caught up on one of those days.

Nevada is very truck friendly. If you contact the courts I'm sure you can work out a deal where your fine increases but there's no reportable points.

 

I used to run Wyoming a lot. Anything over 55 mph...pull over. Wind and ice (I know it's off-topic but still) is nothing to play with. 60 mph winds can blow a fully loaded truck clear off the road. When I was in training...my trainer whom lived in Wyoming explained to me that it's not the gust that gets you, its when you jerk the wheel in response to the gust that makes you roll, so just let the wind blow you to the side. When it ends, then correct your self nice and slow. My only thought on that was...what if there was no shoulder, or the gust blew me off the shoulder? So, I adapted the practice of riding two lanes if I was going up a valley that was known for high wind gusts on a windy day (and if it were a very windy day). I've seen this trick done before by other truckers and done it my self. It works, and may even save another's life just for the fact that you had both lanes blocked to others while that wind gust blew you over. Which if you had been in your lane the entire time, could have pushed you into their lane and cause a wreck to a passing motorist. (Don't try this trick on a two-lane undivided highway...you'd be in on-coming traffic. better off taking your chances with those highways).

Another trick to regain your lane from a wind gust is to slowly apply counter steer into the gust so when the gust ends you don't find your self into oncoming traffic or off the road...or on your side. And only apply enough counter-steer to counter-act the wind. Don't need a full 180-degree thrust of the wheel .

If you have 40-45 mph winds...you'll survive with a heavy load but light loads or empties...better pull over.

 

We get some nasty winds in West Texas but they usually only close the road when the dust makes it zero visibility.

 

You need to find out the specifics of what the restriction was. Example, in Wyo. they will often put up a sign HIGH WINDS, 30+ (sometimes 50+) Gusts, ADVISE NO LIGHT TRAILERS. Under those conditions, they won't mess with a loaded trailer. In Colorado when it's windy, they can make it an Advisory or a Restriction. Either way, it only applies to light weight high profile vehicles. If it's an ADVISORY you travel at your own risk, if you get blown over, it's officer discretion if you'll be cited. When it's a RESTRICTION for light weigh high profile vehicles, you better be parked or they will park you, if you get blown over, you will get a ticket. In either scenario, if your loaded, they won't mess with you.

 

I live in Graham, TX, about an hour away from Weatherford. I remember the wind was so bad it, we had a giant dust storm. Wasn't exactly zero visibility but everything was red.

 

Once in a great while it gets that bad around El Paso. Happens more often in the NM/AZ badlands between Deming, NM and San Simon, AZ.

My great grandparents rode out the dustbowl in Walsh, CO in the 30's. He took some very neat pictures of those dust clouds as they came through. My mom was my preschoolers age when the mini dustbowl hit in the 1950's. She remembers my grandfather running across the street to check on his parents wearing goggles and a bandanna over his mouth and nose during those storms and my grandmother sweeping piles of dust out the door when the storm ended.