Bill Text: AZ SB1370 | 2025 | Fifty-seventh Legislature 1st Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Commercial motor vehicles; civil penalties
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-04 - Senate read second time [SB1370 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2025-SB1370-Introduced.html
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REFERENCE TITLE: commercial motor vehicles; civil penalties |
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State of Arizona Senate Fifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session 2025
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SB 1370 |
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Introduced by Senator Payne
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An Act
amending sections 28-751, 28-1101, 28-1102, 28-1151, 28-3001, 28-5201 and 28-5242, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to commercial motor vehicles.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 28-751, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
28-751. Required position and method of turning
The driver of a vehicle intending to turn shall do so as follows:
1. Right turns. Both the approach for a right turn and a right turn shall be made as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway. The driver of a vehicle or combination of vehicles with a total length of at least forty feet or a total width of at least ten feet, with due regard for all other traffic and to the extent necessary, may deviate from the lane into which the driver is making a right turn.
2. Left turns. The driver of a vehicle intending to turn left shall approach the turn in the extreme left-hand lane lawfully available to traffic moving in the direction of travel of the vehicle. If practicable the driver shall make the left turn from the left of the center of the intersection and shall make the turn to the left lane immediately available for the driver's direction of traffic. The driver of a vehicle or combination of vehicles with a total length of at least forty feet or a total width of at least ten feet, with due regard for all other traffic and to the extent necessary, may deviate from the lane into which the driver is making a left turn.
3. The director or local authorities in their respective jurisdictions may cause markers, buttons or signs to be placed and may require and direct that a different course from that specified in this section be traveled by vehicles turning at an intersection. When markers, buttons or signs are so placed, a driver of a vehicle shall not turn a vehicle other than as directed and required by the markers, buttons or signs.
4. Two-way left turn lanes. If a special lane for making left turns by drivers proceeding in opposite directions has been indicated by official traffic control devices:
(a) A driver shall not make a left turn from any other lane.
(b) A driver shall not drive a vehicle in the lane except if preparing for or making a left turn from or into the roadway or if preparing for or making a u-turn if otherwise permitted by law.
Sec. 2. Section 28-1101, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
28-1101. Weight violations; civil penalty; classification; procedures; evidence
A. A person who violates section 28-1099, or 28-1100 or 28-1102 is:
1. Subject to a civil penalty either by any one of the following:
(a) As prescribed in subsection B of this section.
(b) As prescribed in section 28-1102.
(b) (c) Of one dollar $1 if the excess weight is one thousand pounds or less.
2. Guilty of a class 3 misdemeanor for a second violation of either of these sections within six months of the preceding judgment.
3. Guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor for a second conviction for a violation of either of these sections within one year of the preceding conviction pursuant to paragraph 2 of this subsection.
B. A court shall impose civil penalties as follows:
If the excess weight is: The minimum civil penalty is:
1,001 to 1,250 pounds $ 100.00
1,251 to 1,500 200.00
1,501 to 2,000 300.00
2,001 to 2,500 400.00
2,501 to 3,000 500.00
3,001 to 3,500 840.00
3,501 to 4,000 980.00
4,001 to 4,500 1120.00
4,501 to 4,750 1260.00
4,751 to 5,000 1400.00
5,001 and over 1400.00 plus an additional $100 for each 1000 pounds of excess weight
C. If an officer finds that a person has violated only the axle weight limitation and not the total weight limitation, the officer shall request the driver to shift the load, as reasonable under the circumstances, to comply with the axle weight limitation and notwithstanding section 28-1521 or this section:
1. If the driver does not comply with the request of the officer to shift the load, the driver is subject to a civil penalty or a criminal penalty.
2. If the driver complies with the axle weight limitation after shifting the load and the excess axle weight was two thousand five hundred pounds or less:
(a) The officer shall not cite the driver.
(b) The driver is not subject to a civil penalty or a criminal penalty for a violation of the axle weight limitation.
3. If the driver shifts the load but does not comply with the axle weight limitation or if the excess axle weight is more than two thousand five hundred pounds, the driver is subject to a civil penalty or a criminal penalty for a violation of the axle weight limitation.
D. If a person is arrested for violating section 28-1099 or 28-1100, the arresting officer may take the person immediately before a magistrate who is within the county in which the offense charged is alleged to have been committed and who has jurisdiction of the offense. If the person is taken before a justice of the peace, the person shall be taken before the nearest or most accessible justice of the peace with reference to the place where the arrest is made.
E. The officer or court collecting or receiving a civil penalty, fee, fine or forfeiture for a violation of section 28-1099, or 28-1100 or 28-1102 shall deposit, pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, the amount in the Arizona highway user revenue fund. If a civil penalty, fee or fine is collected, ten dollars $10 of the civil penalty, fee or fine is deductible as reimbursement of costs from the amount collected, unless the fee or fine is less than ten dollars $10. The collecting official shall deposit the deducted monies with the city, town or county treasury of the city, town or county prosecuting or processing the violation.
F. A weight certificate or any other document that evidences the receipt of goods for shipment, that is issued by a person engaged in the business of transporting or forwarding goods and that states the gross weight of the vehicle with load that is in excess of the prescribed maximum weight limitation permitted by prescribed in section 28-1099 or 28-1100 is prima facie evidence that the weight of a vehicle and load is unlawful.
G. If the commodity being carried is sold by weight, a weight certificate or any other document that evidences the receipt of goods for shipment, that is issued by a person engaged in the business of transporting or forwarding goods and that states the gross weight of the vehicle with load that is not in excess of the prescribed maximum weight limitation permitted by section 28-1100 is prima facie evidence that the gross weight of a vehicle and load is lawful. The presumption that the weight of the vehicle and load is lawful may be rebutted by the weight of the vehicle and load as shown by means of the department's stationary scale or a public weighmaster scale.
Sec. 3. Section 28-1102, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
28-1102. Weighing of vehicles and loads; civil penalty
A. A police or peace officer having reason to believe that the weight of a vehicle and load does not conform to this article may require the driver to:
1. Stop and submit to a weighing of the vehicle and load by means of either portable or stationary scales.
2. Drive the vehicle to the nearest public scales, if the scales are within two miles.
B. If on weighing a vehicle and load pursuant to subsection A of this section an officer determines that the weight does not conform to this article, the officer may require the driver to stop the vehicle in a suitable place and remain standing until the portion of the load is removed as necessary to reduce the gross weight of the vehicle to the limit permitted allowed under this article. The owner or operator shall care for the material unloaded at the risk of the owner or operator.
C. A driver of a vehicle is guilty of subject to a class 3 misdemeanor civil penalty of $250 who either:
1. Knowingly fails or refuses to stop and submit the vehicle and load to a weighing.
2. Knowingly fails or refuses when directed by an officer on a weighing of the vehicle to stop the vehicle and otherwise comply with subsections A and B of this section.
D. A peace officer as defined in section 41-1701 or any other peace officer designated by the director may require the weighing of a commercial vehicle by means of portable scales at any time. Failure to submit to weighing as required by this subsection is punishable by a civil penalty, the minimum of which is the minimum civil penalty for over six thousand pounds overweight as prescribed in section 28-1101, subsection B.
Sec. 4. Section 28-1151, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
28-1151. Violation; civil penalty
A person who operates, moves or leaves standing on a highway a vehicle or a vehicle carrying or transporting cargo in violation of an envelope permit is guilty of subject to a class 1 misdemeanor civil penalty of $750.
Sec. 5. Section 28-3001, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
28-3001. Definitions
In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Cancellation" means the annulment or termination of a driver license because of an error or defect or because the licensee is no longer entitled to the license.
2. "Commercial driver license" means a license that is issued to an individual and that authorizes the individual to operate a class of commercial motor vehicles.
3. "Commercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles that is used in commerce to transport passengers or property and that includes any of the following:
(a) A motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles that has either a gross combined weight rating or a gross combined weight of twenty-six thousand one or more pounds inclusive of a towed unit with a gross vehicle weight rating or a gross vehicle weight of more than ten thousand pounds, whichever is greater.
(b) A motor vehicle that has either a gross vehicle weight rating or a gross vehicle weight of twenty-six thousand one or more pounds, whichever is greater.
(c) A bus.
(d) A motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles that is used in the transportation of materials found to be hazardous for the purposes of the hazardous materials transportation authorization act of 1994 (49 United States Code sections 5101 through 5128) and is required to be placarded under 49 Code of Federal Regulations section 172.504, as adopted by the department pursuant to chapter 14 of this title.
4. "Conviction" has the same meaning prescribed in section 28-101 and also means a final conviction or judgment, including an order of a juvenile court finding that a juvenile has violated a provision of this title or has committed a delinquent act that if committed by an adult constitutes any of the following:
(a) Criminal damage to property pursuant to section 13-1602, subsection A, paragraph 1.
(b) A felony offense in the commission of which a motor vehicle was used, including theft of a motor vehicle pursuant to section 13-1802, unlawful use of means of transportation pursuant to section 13-1803 or theft of means of transportation pursuant to section 13-1814.
(c) A forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure a defendant's appearance in court that has not been vacated.
5. "Disqualification" means a prohibition from obtaining a commercial driver license or driving a commercial motor vehicle.
6. "Employer" means a person, including the United States, a state or a political subdivision of a state, that owns or leases a commercial motor vehicle or that assigns a person to operate a commercial motor vehicle.
7. "Endorsement" means an authorization that is added to an individual's driver license and that is required to permit the individual to operate certain types of vehicles.
8. "Foreign" means outside the United States.
9. "Gross vehicle weight rating" means the weight that is assigned by the vehicle manufacturer to a vehicle and that represents the maximum recommended total weight including the vehicle and the load for the vehicle.
10. "Judgment" means a final judgment and any of the following:
(a) The finding by a court that an individual is responsible for a civil traffic violation.
(b) An individual's admission of responsibility for a civil traffic violation.
(c) The voluntary or involuntary forfeiture of deposit in connection with a civil traffic violation.
(d) A default judgment entered by a court pursuant to section 28-1596.
11. "License class" means, for the purpose of determining the appropriate class of driver license required for the type of motor vehicle or vehicle combination a driver intends to operate or is operating, the class of driver license prescribed in section 28-3101.
12. "Nondomiciled commercial driver license" means a commercial driver license issued to an individual domiciled in a foreign country or to an individual domiciled in another state if that state is prohibited from issuing commercial driver licenses.
13. "Original applicant" means any of the following:
(a) An applicant who has never been licensed or cannot provide evidence of licensing.
(b) An applicant who is applying for a higher class of driver license than the license currently held by the applicant.
(c) An applicant who has a license from a foreign country.
14. "Revocation" means that the driver license and driver's privilege to drive a motor vehicle on the public highways of this state are terminated and shall not be renewed or restored, except that an application for a new license may be presented and acted on by the department after one year from the date of revocation.
15. "State of domicile" means the state or jurisdiction where a person has the person's true, fixed and permanent home and principal residence and to which the person has the intention of returning after an absence.
16. "Suspension" means that the driver license and driver's privilege to drive a motor vehicle on the public highways of this state are temporarily withdrawn during the period of the suspension.
17. "Vehicle combination" means a motor vehicle and a vehicle in excess of ten thousand pounds gross vehicle weight that it tows, if the combined gross vehicle weight rating is more than twenty-six thousand pounds.
Sec. 6. Section 28-5201, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
28-5201. Definitions
In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Commercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles that is designed, used or maintained to transport passengers or property in the furtherance of a commercial enterprise on a highway in this state, that is not exempt from the gross weight fees as prescribed in section 28-5432, subsection B and that includes any of the following:
(a) A single vehicle or combination of vehicles that has either a gross vehicle weight rating or a gross combined weight of twenty-six thousand one or more pounds, whichever is greater, and that is used for the purposes of intrastate commerce.
(b) A single vehicle or combination of vehicles that has a gross vehicle weight rating of ten thousand one or more pounds and that is used for the purposes of interstate commerce.
(c) A school bus.
(d) A bus.
(e) A vehicle that transports passengers for hire and that has a design capacity for eight or more persons.
(f) A vehicle that is used in the transportation of materials found to be hazardous for the purposes of the hazardous materials transportation authorization act of 1994 (49 United States Code sections 5101 through 5128) and that is required to be placarded under 49 Code of Federal Regulations section 172.504, as adopted by the department pursuant to this chapter.
2. "Declared gross weight" has the same meaning prescribed in section 28-5431. If a declaration has not been made, declared gross weight means gross weight.
3. "Gross weight" has the same meaning prescribed in section 28-5431.
4. "Hazardous material" means a substance that has been determined by the United States department of transportation under 49 Code of Federal Regulations to be capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety and property if transported in commerce.
5. "Hazardous substance" means a material and its mixtures or solutions that has have been determined by the United States department of transportation under 49 Code of Federal Regulations to be capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety and property if transported in commerce.
6. "Hazardous waste" means a material that is subject to the hazardous waste manifest requirements of the department of environmental quality or the United States environmental protection agency.
7. "Manufacturer" means a person who transports or causes to be transported or shipped by a motor vehicle a material that is represented, marked, certified or sold by a person for transportation in commerce.
8. "Motor carrier" means a person who operates or causes to be operated a commercial motor vehicle on a public highway.
9. "Motor vehicle" means any vehicle, machine, truck tractor, trailer or semitrailer that is propelled or drawn by mechanical power and that is used on a public highway in the transportation of passengers or property in the furtherance of a commercial enterprise.
10. "Person" means a public or private corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society of persons, the federal government and its departments or agencies, this state or any of its agencies, departments, political subdivisions, counties, towns or municipal corporations or a natural person.
11. "Public highway" means a public street, alley, road, highway or thoroughfare of any kind in this state that is used by the public or that is open to the use of the public as a matter of right, for the purpose of vehicular travel.
12. "Shipper" means a person who offers a material for motor vehicle transportation in commerce.
13. "Transportation" means a movement of person or property by a motor vehicle and any loading, unloading or storage incidental to the movement.
14. "Vehicle combination" has the same meaning prescribed in section 28-5431.
Sec. 7. Section 28-5242, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
28-5242. Registration requirements; interstate or foreign commerce; enforcement; violations; civil penalties
A. A motor carrier shall not operate in this state a motor vehicle involved in interstate or foreign commerce or require or allow a driver to operate a motor vehicle involved in interstate or foreign commerce unless the motor carrier is registered pursuant to 49 United States Code sections 13901 and 13902. A motor carrier domiciled outside of the United States shall have proof of the registration in the vehicle when operating in this state.
B. A motor carrier shall not operate in this state a motor vehicle involved in interstate or foreign commerce or require or allow a driver to operate a motor vehicle involved in interstate or foreign commerce beyond the scope of the motor carrier's registration issued pursuant to 49 United States Code sections 13901 and 13902.
C. A person who violates subsection A or B of this section is guilty of subject to a class 2 misdemeanor civil penalty of $500.
D. The department or a law enforcement officer authorized pursuant to section 28-5204 may place a motor vehicle under an out-of-service order until either the cargo is removed from the vehicle or the officer obtains proof that the motor carrier is registered pursuant to 49 United States Code sections 13901 and 13902.
E. A motor carrier shall not operate a motor vehicle or allow a driver to operate a motor vehicle subject to an out-of-service order issued pursuant to this section until the reason for the out-of-service order has been remedied. A motor carrier or driver who violates this subsection is guilty of subject to a class 1 misdemeanor civil penalty of $750.
