Driving On The Road?

[jtcweb]

I have a question a driving on the road. My understanding is that if you have a slow moving vehicle you could drive on the street. I currently have my tractor at my house in town and I drove 6 blocks to a self-serve car wash. This is a 5 lane road (2 lanes each way & a left turn) with a speed limit of 35 MPH and on my way back a cop pulled me over and gave me a hard time. In a week or two I want to drive it 6 miles to my property and wonder what the law is, in Michigan that is.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

While I can't speak to MI law, here's what I've been told here in Indiana. If you're going to be on the public roadway you should be ON THE ROAD! My Kubota dealer friend told me of two separate instances where a customer of his was driving a big farm tractor down the road from field to field and was on the shoulder as far as possible. In one case the left rear tire was on the sideline of the road, in the other it was totally across the line on the road. In each instance a vehicle could easily get by without crossing over center.

Of course, in each case the tractor was hit by a passing car in spite of the tractor operator's best efforts to be a courteous operator and leave the paved road clear for traffic. In each separate instance the tractor operator was cited.

The logic here (Don't start. I know.) is that the tractor was off the road and pulling onto it in front of vehicular traffic on a public thoroughfare and not yielding the right-of-way to the vehicle that hit them.

Based on that, I'll stay on the road. You might want to contact your county or other municipality's traffic department and get their take on this. I hope this helps. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Cracker]

Missour law is as long as the emblem is on the tractor and in the slow lane or far to the right you're ok.Don't track mud on the road though most municipalities have a law against that.Now interstates are a no no.

 

[Soundguy]

Get your ducks in a row, and call and find out exactly what the law is, and if you weren't breaking it, call the watch supervisor for whatever the time period in question was and find out why the cop had to run a 'shake down' on you.

Not sure about your laws, but from the responses I've seen, and from a similar question in another sub that I asked about, it seems that most states allow a tractor with a SMV emblem on it. ( sans interstates, etc )

I support law enforcement, but feel that we as citizens shoul react very vocally when are toes get stepped on by out of line LEO's. Perhaps a letter to a police chief, county / city commission, mayor, etc, etc may help. Most major law enforcements do have some kind of internal affairs system, etc.

But most important .. find out if you were in the right first..... then act on your findings.

Soundguy

 

[Worksmart]

Jerry - Here is a good starting place. <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.michigan.gov/msp/1,1607,7-123-1593_3536_6251-17158--,00.html>http://www.michigan.gov/msp/1,1607,7-123-1593_3536_6251-17158--,00.html</A> Scroll down the whole page to find info on tractors. A visit to the MDOT web page could also yield some info. You can also get to the Michigan compiled laws (via a search) for the actual laws pertaining to your question.

I find the written word to almost always be safer to follow than a verbal response. Is the police officer going to believe "Mary" told you over the phone you could do what you're doing???

Make sure you comply with the requirements and maybe carry a copy with you. Sometimes people in the field are not up to date with current rules and regulations. C

 

[rancar]

Check your state's Motor Vehicle and Traffic Law. Here in New York, one can travel on the road provided one has the orange safety diamond displayed on the rear and safety warning lights operating.

 

[Soundguy]

I agree about having it in writing, but be careful about arguing it with an enforcement type.. they don't like it when you point out an error on their part. Disputes of that nature usually end up bad. It would be better to take the dispute to a supervisor, etc.

As an example, last year in marion county we had a burn ban for quite a while. On the day the ban was lifted, I dug a hole w/ the tractor, and piled up some shavings, and other safe burnables to burn. I had everything legally covered ( i thought ). I had heavy equipment on site ( tractor w/ boxblade ), a fire extinguisher on the tractor and two buckets of water near the burn pit... a pit to burn in, and a wire fabric material to cover the burn pit.
The rear of my acerage abuts an retirement community. The person that lives directly behind me ( beyond a tree buffer ) in the retirement community calle dthe fire department, and reported a fire in the community. The fire station shows up in force... on the other side of my fence, as it was called in in the other! community. I'm standing out in my field raking up some material when I notice emergency vehicles congregating at the far end of my fence. I head over there and am informed that there is a burn ban, yada yada yada. I point out that it ended this morning. The all get together and say that it wasn't... I retrieve the morning paper and point out the bold 2" print headline.."Burn Ban Lifted for Marion County"..
At that point they they all became very irritated, and looked for any excuse to harrass me. Every time they pointed out something I should have been doing, I had a come back... burn pit, cover for the pit, distance to other dwellings, or trees or fence... everything I did was by the book... you know what they finally got me with? The firman making the report said I was burning plastic.... and noted that I had plastic buckes set out near the fire... ( buckets of water )... I gave up at that point... they left me with a citation, and made me push the fire out w/ the tractor or they wouldn't leave. I called the fire chief the next day and argued for hours with them. Their position was that they had to go by what the person onsite saw, and that they were siding with them ( Their position was that I was burning the plastic buckets of water )..... In the end, they dropped the 50$ citation fee or whatever it was.( but let the citation stand ).. but I still lost that battle... Probably the only thing I could have done was gotten a lawyer.... but the cost just didn't seem worth the trouble..... but I should have I guess. That situation still bothers me.

Soundguy

<font color=blue>"I find the written word to almost always be safer to follow than a verbal response. Is the police officer going to believe "Mary" told you over the phone you could do what you're doing??? "

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>"...but be careful about arguing it with an enforcement type.. they don't like it when you point out an error on their part."</font color=blue>

I <font color=red>NEVER</font color=red> argue with anybody that has a gun!!/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Worksmart]

Soundguy

That's why I suggested "maybe" having something on your person/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. It would be available if needed. There's definitely a right time and a right place for a challenge. C

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

If a cop questions your right to drive your tractor on the road then question his knowledge of the laws of your area and offer him a beer. This will definately get a response.