Posted on 08/05/2011 5:08:23 AM PDT by Libloather
Drivers face ticket for running out of gas on I-15
August 3rd, 2011 @ 8:25am
By ksl.com
UTAH COUNTY -- Drivers who run out of gas through the I-15 construction zone in Utah County could face a ticket.
Troopers have started giving out $97 tickets to motorists whose tanks run dry.
Alan Peterson with UDOT's incident management team told KSL in 2008 that the agency was getting an increasing number of calls about people running out of gas. Peterson thought it was linked to higher gas prices.
UHP now says it's getting about five calls per 10-hour shift from motorists stranded because they're out of gas.
In the Utah County CORE construction zone, a car stopped in the narrow lanes poses a real danger, troopers say. Those vehicles often stop in areas where there are no shoulders to the road.
(Excerpt) Read more at ksl.com ...
This is how we have ended up with so many stupid laws.
Running out of gas is punishment enough.
Cripes. STOP PASSING MORE LAWS. In red state Utah no less.
Stop it!
Running out of gas in some places is probably a much greater public safety hazard than driving at 15 over the limit is.
There's no good reason to run out of gas, especially on an interstate.
(But there are a lot of lame excuses.)
I would say there’s a certain ‘survival of the fittest’ aspect to cars on the 15 traveling in Utah.
The distances are significant. One really does need to be aware of gassing up where available - it is not wise to let your tank fall below a quarter tank. Smarter to keep it at least half full at all times.
What I suspect might be at work (and it’s not entirely hard to understand) you’ve got a very conservative state whose largest city even is very conservative, through the very middle of which two major interstates intersect - one north/south and one east/west which connect directly with much larger, very liberal blue state California metropoli.
San Francisco, and Los Angeles. It’s been my observation, the residents of Utah are not altogether thrilled about Californians.
I’m betting this law is not about Utah residents.
It’s about liberal Californians - and Utahn frustration with clueless urban liberals wasting their time.
Still, don’t we have enough laws already?
That was the law in Germany when I lived there. They figured it was your fault if you ran out of gas.
That is absurd.According to the article, it's the State Highway Patrol doing the rescuing. I don't know if they charge for their service, but they should.
They should be fined, or held accountable ONLY if tax payer money is being used to bail them out of their oversight or stupidity.
Running out of gas is not always the driver’s fault. There could be a leak, or a faulty gas gauge.
I agree that the hapless driver shouldn't be fined for running out of gas. But I have no trouble with them being fined for disrupting traffic through a construction zone (which is my understanding of what's happening here).
If they have a good excuse for blocking traffic, they can contest the ticket and maybe get the fine reduced or eliminated. But if they are screwing up traffic, it should be up to them to prove that they have an good excuse (and running out of gas typically isn't a good excuse).
Since I spent most of my life in the snow belt, I have always filled my tank when it drops to half full. This way, I don't have to worry about running out of gas just because there is a traffic jam.
You’re right, we have enough laws - - - - as of about 60 years ago.
If this is ‘played’ right, there won’t be a problem. Have signs advise drivers of the law. I bet the number of dry tanks will dry up in a hurry.
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