10,000 lb Vehicle weight and the law

burningman wrote:
Well I have a CDL and used to be a tow truck driver. Years ago in Bellevue, WA, a loaded dump truck coming down a steep hill in a residential neighborhood lost it's brakes and crashed into a house. The investigators ordered, in their words, "every spoonful of dirt" to be loaded back onto the truck so they could check if it was over. There were indeed tickets and lawsuits.
That street now has weight restriction signs.
B
I know that isn't really what this thread is about but the question was asked about when did anything like that ever happen.

The law is slowly catching up to the times, in WA all trucks over 10,000 pounds used to have to stop at the scales, but in recent years it's been upped to only include trucks over 16,000.

Also, in general the DOT is unconcerned about manufacturer's weight ratings. They go by their own formula of tire size, number of axles, and wheelbase. Those are the things that determine LEGAL weight capacity. I'm pretty sure there's nothing in the law anywhere about what rating the manufacturer places on a truck. That's of no more consequence than a manufacturer's speed rating vs. the state's speed limit. THEY decide the limit based on their own criteria, in both cases.

After 28 years in law enforcement I can tell dozens of stories about weighing for overweight, checking brakes, etc in accidents. BUT, they were all COMMERCIAL vehicles. I never had or heard of an RV accident being checked for overweight. And all Idaho cares about as far as weights is 12000 lbs per single axle. We also license our trucks as passenger cars. :)