By: Jeremy Wang-Iverson
LAMBERTVILLE — City officials have shown interest in allowing municipal police to inspect large trucks without probable cause, an idea that has been mentioned by state officials in the past week.
Only State Police have this jurisdiction now, but including local police could help reduce the number of big rigs on the roads, local officials say.
The suggested extension of the truck ban comes in the wake of the May 12 accident in which a tractor-trailer crashed into Lambertville Video, killing local resident Joan Eschen, 54, who was working at the time.
Mayor David Del Vecchio and Police Director Bruce Cocuzza both favor extending the jurisdiction so Lambertville Police can pull over and inspect trucks without probable cause. Mr. Cocuzza said Lambertville has two officers trained to make such truck inspections, which are much more involved than enforcing the speed limit on the big trucks. Along with measuring the truck’s width, the variable that determines whether a truck can be on the road, officers would inspect a truck’s weight and cargo, among other things.
Mr. Cocuzza mentioned one problem that could hinder the truck inspection process: there isn’t physical space in the small town to pull over trucks that can measure 102 inches wide and more than 40 feet long. To accommodate such inspections, perhaps modifications could be made to the front of the police station, which, he added, soon may be making its long-awaited move.
He also mentioned the parking lot at the former Ben Franklin store off Cherry Lane and the area by the Laceworks along Route 29 in the southern portion of the city as possible sites for truck inspections.
The question of where to inspect the trucks is baffling neighboring towns as well. Hopewell Township Committeeman John Hart said he didn’t want local police in his town enforcing the truck ban as he thinks there are no safe places to pull over trucks in Hopewell, which isn’t nearly as densely built as Lambertville.
Roger Shatzkin, spokesman for the state attorney general’s office, says the idea is speculative and would require a amendment to the seldom-enforced truck ban Governor Whitman put in place last July, restricting 102-inch-wide trucks from using state secondary roads such as Route 29. Though state troopers have not issued summons relating directly to the ban, 62 citations were given to truckers on Route 29 from January through April, charging truckers with other violations. Additionally, 104 summonses were issued to drivers on Route 31 in the same time period.
State troopers just began issuing summonses to over-sized trucks last week, ending months of inaction despite fines having been established by state officials four months ago. The delay was a result of a lawsuit the state is facing from the American Trucking Association concerning the ban.
“Now that the considerations have been ironed out, (the governor’s ban) will be another summons in the arsenal to regulate and control truck traffic on our secondary roads,” said John Hagerty, spokesman for the State Police.
He added the Lambertville Video accident “did not spur state police to conduct inspections.” He explained, “We’ve been doing it for several years on an intense basis. We’ve always been out there.”
Mr. Hagerty said he was aware of local officials showing interest in expanding the truck ban jurisdiction to include municipal police, but would not comment or offer any opinion on the possible assistance local police would give.
Samuel Cunningham, executive director of the New Jersey Motor Truck Association vehemently opposes the idea of municipal police inspecting big rigs.
“As an industry, we would much rather have heavy truck inspection relegated to State Police, and if they can’t do it, add people to the State Police,” Mr. Cunningham said. “Commerce would never get conducted … as an industry we could never afford it, never.”
He said the trucking industry is trying to provide a service and explained that all trucks were 96 inches wide, and no one used 102-inch-wide trucks until the federal government instituted new regulations in 1980 encouraging the larger size, which was subsequently restricted last summer by Gov. Whitman’s ban.
“There’s going to be people killed by trucks, but more people are killed by cars,” Mr. Cunningham said.
The governor’s office declined to comment on the ban.
Local police inspecting trucks for size-violations is one of a long list of proposals designed to keep large trucks off Lambertville’s small roads. Three days after the accident, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution asking state officials to include 96-inch-wide trucks in the truck ban, which now only prohibits 102-inch-wide trucks and greater from using Lambertville’s roads.
John Dourgarian, spokesman for the Department of Transportation said there is a legal issue over the 102-inch-wide ban, “so I think it’s appropriate to try and save the existing regulations and then see what we can do about extending them.” He added that the current ban is under fire from the trucking industry, and the court case could take months before reaching any resolution.
The council also has asked state officials to reduce the speed limit on state routes through Lambertville from 45 to 25 miles per hour. In the wake of the accident, Mr. Cocuzza reported police have tightened their grip on the small roads, citing several trucks for speeding and other infractions, a power within the jurisdiction of municipal police.
Mr. Dourgarian said DOT received the City Council’s resolutions, and Lambertville will be contacted within the next few weeks, after they’re reviewed.
