PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 2370 PRINTER'S NO. 2672
No. 1842 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY LESCOVITZ AND PETRARCA, SEPTEMBER 18, 1989
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, OCTOBER 23, 1989
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
2 Statutes, further providing for the weighing and measurement
3 of vehicles.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Section 4981(a) and (e) of Title 75 of the
7 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are amended and the section
8 is amended by adding a subsection to read:
9 § 4981. Weighing and measurement of vehicles.
10 (a) Authority of police officers and qualified department
11 employees.--Any police officer or qualified department employee
12 is authorized to require the driver of any vehicle or
13 combination to stop and submit the vehicle or combination to be
14 measured and weighed. Weighing may be done by using either
15 portable or stationary scales, provided that when portable
16 scales more than one inch in height are used, sufficient ramp
17 blocks shall be made available to allow the vehicle or
1 combination to mount the scales safely. The weighing shall be
2 conducted by qualified personnel who have been trained in the
3 use of weighing equipment in a training program approved by the
4 Department of Agriculture. The personnel performing the weighing
5 on all highways and interstates in this Commonwealth shall
6 inform the drivers of the vehicle of the right to readjust or
7 rearrange the load under section 4982(c) (relating to reducing
8 or readjusting loads of vehicles). The driver or owner, if
9 present, of any vehicle or combination may, at the time of
10 weighing, witness in an orderly fashion the weighing procedure.
11 If the driver wishes to witness the procedure from outside the
12 cab of the vehicle, he shall be required to turn off the engine,
13 put the transmission in gear and set the emergency brake before
14 leaving the cab. A police officer or qualified department
15 employee may require that a vehicle or combination be driven to
16 the nearest available portable or stationary scales if the
17 scales are within two miles. For the purpose of enforcing this
18 chapter, qualified department employees shall be authorized to
19 institute criminal proceedings by citation pursuant to the
20 Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure.
21 * * *
22 (e) [Calibration] Certification and accuracy of portable
23 scales.--Portable scales shall be [calibrated] checked every 30
24 days for the purpose of certification [and] of accuracy by the
25 Department of [Agriculture] General Services. A certificate from
26 the Department of General Services, showing that portable scales
27 were checked and found to be accurate and the date the portable
28 scales were certified, shall be competent and prima facie
29 evidence of those facts in every proceeding in which a violation
30 of this chapter is charged. The weight of a vehicle or
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1 combination, determined by using portable scales so certified,
2 shall not be contradicted except by clear and convincing
3 evidence.
4 (f) Certification of qualified personnel.--A certificate <--
5 from an agency of the Commonwealth, showing that a person was
6 trained in the use of weighing equipment in a training program
7 approved by the Department of Agriculture, shall be admissible
8 as competent and prima facie evidence that the person is
9 qualified and trained in the use of weighing equipment in such a
10 training program.
11 (F) CERTIFICATION OF QUALIFIED PERSONNEL.--THE COMPETENCY OF <--
12 A WITNESS TO TESTIFY CONCERNING THE WEIGHING OF A VEHICLE MAY BE
13 ESTABLISHED BY A CERTIFICATE FROM AN AGENCY OF THE COMMONWEALTH,
14 SHOWING THAT THE PERSON WAS TRAINED IN THE USE OF WEIGHING
15 EQUIPMENT IN A TRAINING PROGRAM APPROVED BY A COMMONWEALTH
16 AGENCY. THIS CERTIFICATION SHALL BE ADMISSIBLE AS COMPETENT AND
17 PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE THAT THE PERSON IS QUALIFIED AND TRAINED IN
18 THE USE OF WEIGHING EQUIPMENT IN SUCH A TRAINING PROGRAM.
19 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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