1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to traffic regulations; exempting first hauls 
  1.3             of farm and forest products from certain additional 
  1.4             registration taxes when weight restrictions are not 
  1.5             exceeded by more than ten percent; allowing use of 
  1.6             safety cables on trailers and semitrailers; providing 
  1.7             for maximum civil penalties for gross weight 
  1.8             violations when not preceded by two or more violations 
  1.9             within 12 months; amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, 
  1.10            sections 168.013, subdivision 3; 169.82, subdivision 
  1.11            3; and 169.871, by adding a subdivision.  
  1.12  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.13     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 168.013, 
  1.14  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.15     Subd. 3.  [APPLICATION; CANCELLATION; EXCESSIVE GROSS 
  1.16  WEIGHTS FORBIDDEN.] The applicant for all licenses based on 
  1.17  gross weight shall state in writing upon oath, the unloaded 
  1.18  weight of the motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer and the 
  1.19  maximum load the applicant proposes to carry thereon, the sum of 
  1.20  which shall constitute the gross weight upon which the license 
  1.21  tax shall be paid, but in no case shall the declared gross 
  1.22  weight upon which the tax is paid be less than 1-1/4 times the 
  1.23  declared unloaded weight of the motor vehicle, trailer or 
  1.24  semitrailer to be registered, except recreational vehicles taxed 
  1.25  under subdivision 1g, school buses taxed under subdivision 18 
  1.26  and tow trucks or towing vehicles defined in section 169.01, 
  1.27  subdivision 52.  The gross weight of a tow truck or towing 
  1.28  vehicle is the actual weight of the tow truck or towing vehicle 
  2.1   fully equipped, but does not include the weight of a wrecked or 
  2.2   disabled vehicle towed or drawn by the tow truck or towing 
  2.3   vehicle. 
  2.4      The gross weight of no motor vehicle, trailer or 
  2.5   semitrailer shall exceed the gross weight upon which the license 
  2.6   tax has been paid by more than four percent or 1,000 pounds, 
  2.7   whichever is greater. 
  2.8      The gross weight of the motor vehicle, trailer or 
  2.9   semitrailer for which the license tax is paid shall be indicated 
  2.10  by a distinctive character on the license plate or plates except 
  2.11  as provided in subdivision 12 and the plate or plates shall be 
  2.12  kept clean and clearly visible at all times. 
  2.13     The owner, driver, or user of a motor vehicle, trailer or 
  2.14  semitrailer upon conviction for transporting a gross weight in 
  2.15  excess of the gross weight for which it was registered or for 
  2.16  operating a vehicle with an axle weight exceeding the maximum 
  2.17  lawful axle load weight shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be 
  2.18  subject to increased registration or reregistration according to 
  2.19  the following schedule: 
  2.20     (1) The owner, driver or user of a motor vehicle, trailer 
  2.21  or semitrailer upon conviction for transporting a gross weight 
  2.22  in excess of the gross weight for which it is registered by more 
  2.23  than four percent or 1,000 pounds, whichever is greater, but 
  2.24  less than 25 percent or for operating or using a motor vehicle, 
  2.25  trailer or semitrailer with an axle weight exceeding the maximum 
  2.26  lawful axle load as provided in section 169.825 by more than 
  2.27  four percent or 1,000 pounds, whichever is greater, but less 
  2.28  than 25 percent, in addition to any penalty imposed for the 
  2.29  misdemeanor shall apply to the registrar to increase the 
  2.30  authorized gross weight to be carried on the vehicle to a weight 
  2.31  equal to or greater than the gross weight the owner, driver, or 
  2.32  user was convicted of carrying, the increase computed for the 
  2.33  balance of the calendar year on the basis of 1/12 of the annual 
  2.34  tax for each month remaining in the calendar year beginning with 
  2.35  the first day of the month in which the violation occurred.  If 
  2.36  the additional registration tax computed upon that weight, plus 
  3.1   the tax already paid, amounts to more than the regular tax for 
  3.2   the maximum gross weight permitted for the vehicle under section 
  3.3   169.825, that additional amount shall nevertheless be paid into 
  3.4   the highway fund, but the additional tax thus paid shall not 
  3.5   permit the vehicle to be operated with a gross weight in excess 
  3.6   of the maximum legal weight as provided by section 169.825.  
  3.7   Unless the owner within 30 days after a conviction shall apply 
  3.8   to increase the authorized weight and pay the additional tax as 
  3.9   provided in this section, the registrar shall revoke the 
  3.10  registration on the vehicle and demand the return of the 
  3.11  registration card and plates issued on that registration. 
  3.12     (2) The owner or driver or user of a motor vehicle, trailer 
  3.13  or semitrailer upon conviction for transporting a gross weight 
  3.14  in excess of the gross weight for which the motor vehicle, 
  3.15  trailer or semitrailer was registered by 25 percent or more, or 
  3.16  for operating or using a vehicle or trailer with an axle weight 
  3.17  exceeding the maximum lawful axle load as provided in section 
  3.18  169.825 by 25 percent or more, in addition to any penalty 
  3.19  imposed for the misdemeanor, shall have the reciprocity 
  3.20  privileges on the vehicle involved if the vehicle is being 
  3.21  operated under reciprocity canceled by the registrar, or if the 
  3.22  vehicle is not being operated under reciprocity, the certificate 
  3.23  of registration on the vehicle operated shall be canceled by the 
  3.24  registrar and the registrar shall demand the return of the 
  3.25  registration certificate and registration plates.  The registrar 
  3.26  may not cancel the registration or reciprocity privileges for 
  3.27  any vehicle found in violation of seasonal load restrictions 
  3.28  imposed under section 169.87 unless the axle weight exceeds the 
  3.29  year-round weight limit for the highway on which the violation 
  3.30  occurred.  The registrar may investigate any allegation of gross 
  3.31  weight violations and demand that the operator show cause why 
  3.32  all future operating privileges in the state should not be 
  3.33  revoked unless the additional tax assessed is paid. 
  3.34     (3) Clause (1) does not apply to the first haul of 
  3.35  unprocessed or raw farm products or unfinished forest products, 
  3.36  when the registered gross weight is not exceeded by more than 
  4.1   ten percent.  For the purposes of this clause, "first haul" 
  4.2   means: 
  4.3      (i) the first continuous transportation of unprocessed or 
  4.4   raw farm products from the place of production or on-farm 
  4.5   storage site to any other location within 50 miles of the place 
  4.6   of production or on-farm storage site; or 
  4.7      (ii) the first continuous transportation of unfinished 
  4.8   forest products from the place of production to the place of 
  4.9   first unloading. 
  4.10     (4) When the registration on a motor vehicle, trailer or 
  4.11  semitrailer is revoked by the registrar according to provisions 
  4.12  of this section, the vehicle shall not be operated on the 
  4.13  highways of the state until it is registered or reregistered, as 
  4.14  the case may be, and new plates issued, and the registration fee 
  4.15  shall be the annual tax for the total gross weight of the 
  4.16  vehicle at the time of violation.  The reregistration pursuant 
  4.17  to this subdivision of any vehicle operating under reciprocity 
  4.18  agreements pursuant to section 168.181 or 168.187 shall be at 
  4.19  the full annual registration fee without regard to the 
  4.20  percentage of vehicle miles traveled in this state.  
  4.21     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 169.82, 
  4.22  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  4.23     Subd. 3.  [HITCHES; CHAINS; CABLES.] (a) Every trailer or 
  4.24  semitrailer must be hitched to the towing motor vehicle by a 
  4.25  device approved by the commissioner of public safety. 
  4.26     (b) Every trailer and semitrailer must be equipped with 
  4.27  safety chains or cables permanently attached to the trailer 
  4.28  except in cases where the coupling device is a regulation fifth 
  4.29  wheel and kingpin assembly approved by the commissioner of 
  4.30  public safety.  In towing, the chains or cables must be carried 
  4.31  through a ring on the towbar and attached to the towing attached 
  4.32  to the vehicles near the points of bumper attachments to the 
  4.33  chassis of each vehicle, and must be of sufficient strength to 
  4.34  control the trailer in the event of failure of the towing 
  4.35  device.  The length of chain or cable must be no more than 
  4.36  necessary to permit free turning of the vehicles. 
  5.1      (c) This subdivision does not apply to towed implements of 
  5.2   husbandry. 
  5.3      No person may be charged with a violation of this section 
  5.4   solely by reason of violating a maximum speed prescribed in 
  5.5   section 169.145 or 169.67. 
  5.6      Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 169.871, is 
  5.7   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  5.8      Subd. 1b.  [CIVIL PENALTY FOR FIRST TWO VIOLATIONS.] 
  5.9   Notwithstanding subdivision 1, clauses (a) to (e), a civil 
  5.10  penalty under subdivision 1 for a violation in a motor vehicle 
  5.11  in the course of a first haul as defined in section 168.013, 
  5.12  subdivision 3, clause (3), of a weight limit imposed under 
  5.13  sections 169.825, 169.832 to 169.851, and 169.87 that is not 
  5.14  preceded by two or more violations of the gross weight limits in 
  5.15  those sections in that motor vehicle within the previous 12 
  5.16  months, may not exceed $150.