[Mackie Family Racing]

Larry et al,

since I think my debacle (ticket) on the way to Stanton last year was the subject of the thread you originally referred to, let me clarify what I know, having fought the ticket in Petticoat Junction (Ithaca, MI) Court...:

- unless it has changed in the last year (Rock seemed to think it had been set at 75' when I spoke to him at Norwalk, but he wasn't dead certain...) -- you cannot tow ANYTHING behind a motorhome in Michigan, to the letter of the law. Specifically, the law states that if a "combination" is not discussed in the statute, then it is not allowed... notably, motorhomes with trailers of any kind are not discussed, and thus are technically illegal. So for all that think 65' or less is magic -- it's not. Obviously, the longer you are, the more lettering you have, etc., the more likely you are to get a visit... You'll note that the Coughlins have removed the "JEGS" from their sportsman rigs this year... they got banged (hard) on the way to Martin, MI, the wknd after I got nailed on the way to Stanton

- as I found out in Court, the Judge (and the MI State cop playing DOT man) interpret that as it is irrational to consider pulling over every single motorhome pulling a trailer, boat, horse trailer, bicycle, etc., then they arbitrarily defer to the statute for the next best thing... in Michigan, they interpret that to be the restriction for a straight truck and trailer -- which is 65 feet. As I also found out in Court, the Judge and the cop, could not provide any logical explanation why a motorhome (i.e., non-cargo carrying vehicle) shouldn't be treated like a tractor trailer (i.e., a non-cargo carrying vehicle pulling a trailer), versus a straight truck (cargo carrying) and trailer... reason why I pushed this is that the state statute for Michigan provides that a tractor trailer can be ANY length -- as long as the trailer itself is 53' or less. The Judge acknowleged at the end of the session that I had refuted all of his arguments, and he couldn't answer any of mine... but asked me to pay the fine, and file an appeal. For $240, it wasn't worth driving back up to Petticoat Junction again, particularly given the fact that the Judge could defer to the "everything behind a motorhome is illegal" interpretation. I should add that the officer that ticketed me let me go on my way (Coughlin got impounded in Jackson), and bitched only about length. I do have my CDL, which was likely helpful (and Coughlin's driver did not), although that's a whole other debate...

- to the advice from others in this thread -- we'll like it heed it ourselves this year. We got pulled over just south of Ithaca, MI, on M-127... I'm guessing Ithaca is where the state police post is.... It was 3pm on a Friday afternoon, beautiful sunny day, doing the speed limit -- and nothing on our rig other than a "Mackie Family Racing" decal above the rear door on the back of the stacker. If we go this year, we'll run at night (or Sunday), and avoid Ithaca (take M-57 west from M-127, per Rock...)

Hope this helps. As I was counciled by a bunch of professional truck drivers at a funeral shortly after my court date last year, everyone runs into the DOT at some point in time, no matter how hard you try to keep your nose clean... and every one of the drivers had a story about how the DOT guy made sure they came up with something they could write a ticket on...

srm