SCS/SB 484 - This act requires owners of commercial motor vehicles with a licensed gross weight over 50,000 pounds to submit proof that they are registered with the division of motor carrier services prior to obtaining or renewing license plates for such vehicles. This act requires the state patrol to establish a program to certify local law enforcement officers with respect to enforcing commercial motor vehicle laws. The certification procedures established by the Highway Patrol shall include training, testing, on-the-job experience, data collection and other prescribed components. The certification procedures shall meet the requirements established by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA). The Highway Patrol is authorized to establish reasonable fees to cover the costs of training and certification.
Beginning January 1, 2008, no law enforcement officer may make an arrest, issue a citation or conduct a commercial motor vehicle roadside inspection to determine compliance with the applicable commercial motor vehicle laws unless the law enforcement officer has satisfactorily completed a basic training course developed by CVSA and has been certified by the Highway Patrol.
Beginning January 1, 2008, only law enforcement officers that have been certified by the Missouri State Highway Patrol under the act, members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, regularly employed maintenance men of the Department of Transportation, or commercial vehicle enforcement officers shall have the authority to conduct random roadside examinations or inspections to determine compliance with the commercial motor vehicle weight and size limit laws (Sections 304.170 to 304.230), and only such officers shall have the authority, with or without probable cause to believe that the size or weight is in excess of that permitted by the law, to require the driver, operator, owner, lessee, or bailee, to stop, drive, or otherwise move to a location to determine compliance with the law. A law enforcement officer not certified under the act, however, may stop a vehicle that has a visible external safety defect that could cause immediate harm to the traveling public. In the course of a stop, the law enforcement officer shall identify to the driver the defect that caused the stop.
If the vehicle passes the roadside inspection, the law enforcement officer, state highway patrolman, or other authorized person may issue the operator, driver, owner, lessee, or bailee of such vehicle a Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance inspection decal to be affixed to the vehicle in a manner prescribed by the superintendent. Once issued, the decal shall be valid for a period not to exceed three consecutive months and shall exempt the vehicle from further inspection during such period. However, nothing shall exempt the operator from subjecting such vehicle to an examination or inspection if the vehicle has a visible external safety defect or the law enforcement officer at hand has probable cause to believe that the size or weight of the vehicle is in excess of that permitted by the law. The act authorizes the superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol to promulgate rules and regulations regarding the size and placement of the sticker and any ancillary issues related to the issuance, display, or use of the decal.
STEPHEN WITTE