Bill Text: MI SB0940 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Chaptered
Bill Title: Traffic control; traffic regulation; permissible width of vehicle loads; modify to allow 108-inch load width for vehicles hauling steel pipe. Amends sec. 717 of 1949 PA 300 (MCL 257.717).
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)
Status: (Passed) 2014-12-30 - Assigned Pa 0391'14 With Immediate Effect [SB0940 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2013-SB0940-Chaptered.html
Act No. 391
Public Acts of 2014
Approved by the Governor
December 18, 2014
Filed with the Secretary of State
December 22, 2014
EFFECTIVE DATE: December 22, 2014
STATE OF MICHIGAN
97TH LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION OF 2014
Introduced by Senators Ananich, Casperson, Robertson and Pavlov
ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 940
AN ACT to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled “An act to provide for the registration, titling, sale, transfer, and regulation of certain vehicles operated upon the public highways of this state or any other place open to the general public or generally accessible to motor vehicles and distressed vehicles; to provide for the licensing of dealers; to provide for the examination, licensing, and control of operators and chauffeurs; to provide for the giving of proof of financial responsibility and security by owners and operators of vehicles; to provide for the imposition, levy, and collection of specific taxes on vehicles, and the levy and collection of sales and use taxes, license fees, and permit fees; to provide for the regulation and use of streets and highways; to create certain funds; to provide penalties and sanctions for a violation of this act; to provide for civil liability of manufacturers, the manufacturers of automated technology, upfitters, owners, and operators of vehicles and service of process on residents and nonresidents; to regulate the introduction and use of certain evidence; to provide for the levy of certain assessments; to provide for the enforcement of this act; to provide for the creation of and to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state and local agencies; to impose liability upon the state or local agencies; to provide appropriations for certain purposes; to repeal all other acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act or contrary to this act; and to repeal certain parts of this act on a specific date,” by amending section 717 (MCL 257.717), as amended by 2008 PA 539.
The People of the State of Michigan enact:
Sec. 717. (1) The total outside width of a vehicle or the load on a vehicle shall not exceed 96 inches, except as otherwise provided in this section.
(2) A person may operate or move an implement of husbandry of any width on a highway as required, designed, and intended for farming operations, including the movement of implements of husbandry being driven or towed and not hauled on a trailer, without obtaining a special permit for an excessively wide vehicle or load under section 725. The operation or movement of the implement of husbandry shall be in a manner so as to minimize the interruption of traffic flow. A person shall not operate or move an implement of husbandry to the left of the center of the roadway from a half hour after sunset to a half hour before sunrise, under the conditions specified in section 639, or at any time visibility is substantially diminished due to weather conditions. A person operating or moving an implement of husbandry shall follow all traffic regulations.
(3) The total outside width of the load of a vehicle hauling concrete pipe, ferrous pipe, agricultural products, or unprocessed logs, pulpwood, or wood bolts shall not exceed 108 inches.
(4) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (5) and this subsection, if a vehicle that is equipped with pneumatic tires is operated on a highway, the maximum width from the outside of 1 wheel and tire to the outside of the opposite wheel and tire shall not exceed 102 inches, and the outside width of the body of the vehicle or the load on the vehicle shall not exceed 96 inches. However, a truck and trailer or a tractor and semitrailer combination hauling pulpwood or unprocessed logs may be operated with a maximum width of not to exceed 108 inches in accordance with a special permit issued under section 725.
(5) The total outside body width of a bus, a trailer coach, a trailer, a semitrailer, a truck camper, or a motor home shall not exceed 102 inches. However, an appurtenance of a trailer coach, a truck camper, or a motor home that extends not more than 6 inches beyond the total outside body width is not a violation of this section.
(6) A vehicle shall not extend beyond the center line of a state trunk line highway except when authorized by law. Except as provided in subsection (2), if the width of the vehicle makes it impossible to stay away from the center line, a permit shall be obtained under section 725.
(7) The director of the state transportation department, a county road commission, or a local authority may designate a highway under the agency’s jurisdiction as a highway on which a person may operate a vehicle or vehicle combination that is not more than 102 inches in width, including load, the operation of which would otherwise be prohibited by this section. The agency making the designation may require that the owner or lessee of the vehicle or of each vehicle in the vehicle combination secure a permit before operating the vehicle or vehicle combination. This subsection does not restrict the issuance of a special permit under section 725 for the operation of a vehicle or vehicle combination. This subsection does not permit the operation of a vehicle or vehicle combination described in section 722a carrying a load described in that section if the operation would otherwise result in a violation of that section.
(8) The director of the state transportation department, a county road commission, or a local authority may issue a special permit under section 725 to a person operating a vehicle or vehicle combination if all of the following are met:
(a) The vehicle or vehicle combination, including load, is not more than 106 inches in width.
(b) The vehicle or vehicle combination is used solely to move new motor vehicles or parts or components of new motor vehicles between facilities that meet all of the following:
(i) New motor vehicles or parts or components of new motor vehicles are manufactured or assembled in the facilities.
(ii) The facilities are located within 10 miles of each other.
(iii) The facilities are located within the city limits of the same city and the city is located in a county that has a population of more than 400,000 and less than 500,000 according to the most recent federal decennial census.
(c) The special permit and any renewals are each issued for a term of 1 year or less.
(9) A person may move or operate a boat lift of any width or an oversized hydraulic boat trailer owned and operated by a marina or watercraft dealer in a commercial boat storage operation on a highway under a multiple trip permit issued on an annual basis as specified under section 725. The operation or movement of the boat lift or trailer shall minimize the interruption of traffic flow. It shall be used exclusively to transport a boat between a place of storage and a marina or in and around a marina. A boat lift or oversized hydraulic boat trailer may be operated, drawn, or towed on a street or highway only when transporting a vessel between a body of water and a place of storage or when traveling empty to or from transporting a vessel. A boat lift shall not be operated on limited access highways. A person moving or operating a boat lift or oversized hydraulic boat trailer shall follow all traffic regulations and shall ensure the route selected has adequate power and utility wire height clearance.
(10) A person who violates this section is responsible for a civil infraction. The owner of the vehicle may be charged with a violation of this section.
This act is ordered to take immediate effect.
Secretary of the Senate
Clerk of the House of Representatives
Approved
Governor
