Living near the border, I could be in any one of four states in 20 minutes or less. So, I was wondering…
a) Is one’s driver’s license honored in all 50 states?
b) What about one’s child seat? Is it assumed permissible, although the requirements vary so significantly even amongst neighboring states? Could you be in violation, or does it somehow revert back to your home state’s laws?
c) Why do trucks have multiple state registrations? Do they need one for every state through which they travel? Is this more a law of commerce than motor vehicles?
I think if you were, say, in Washington state, and you drove to Montana (where the seat laws are different, let’s assume), and you got pulled over, the cop would let you off because you didn’t know Montana had (insert different law here).
All states must honor the laws of every other state.
United States Constitution, Article IV, Section 1.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse. If you’re from Washington State and get stopped by a cop in Montana for not wearing a seatbelt as required by Montana law, expect a ticket.
Then again, the Montana cop will probably cut you some slack depending upon your set of circumstances – you know, if you just admit it and play dumb. OTOH, if you give that Montana cop some lip you’ll probably spend time in the local jail, because, well, just because.
Preview: [dang, must learn to type faster than Duckster]
[heck, post it anyway]
Um, no, actually, that’s not the way “The Law” works. “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.”
And when you’re in a state, you’re expected to abide by the rules of that state. Just because the drinking age back home in Michigan may be 18 doesn’t mean you, the 18-year-old, can drink in Illinois, where the drinking age is 21. “Well, gee, Officer, it’s legal for me to drink back home in Michigan…” Uh uh.
The reason they put the different seat belt and car seat laws in the front of the Rand McNally road atlas is precisely so you can be familiar with what the special requirements are in each state you’re going to visit. And yes, you’re expected to follow the rules, or risk the consequences.
It’s possible that if you’re stopped by, say, a Vermont state trooper and busted for not wearing a seat belt while driving in Vermont, which has a “mandatory seat belt” law, if you play the Compleat Tourist and weep helplessly and apologize and promise never, ever to drive in the Sovereign State of Vermont again without a seat belt, he’ll let you off.
But don’t count on it. And he’s certainly not going to buy your explanation that “it’s legal back home in New Hampshire to drive without seat belts”. Doesn’t signify a-tall, a-tall. You’re not in New Hampshire anymore, Dorothy, you’re in Vermont, and in Vermont, the law sez “buckle up”. One ticket, coming right up.
The OP left me thinking, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t believe that I have ever passed over a state line on an interstate highway without seeing a sign which says “Buckle Up - It’s the Law.”
Actually, just a clarifiaction, not a disagreement…
a) Each state honors each other’s licenses, but California and Pennsylvania (of whose laws I am relatively certain) and I strongly suspect most or all states require that you get a local DL (and forfeit your old one) within a certain period of establishing residency (In Calif., it’s 10 days). There are always exceptions (e.g. college students)
b) Asked and answered.
c) From my past life as a DA, I recall that California may regulate intrastate travel, but may not regulate interstate travel. So if the truck is hauling from San Francisco to Sacramento, Calif. may require that the rig be registered in Calif. If the truck is hauling to Reno, it may not. However, the cabs and the containers often haul both inter-and intrastate loads (usually within one geographic region), so it’s necessary to register them for intrastate travel in whatever states it’s likely to travel in.
Before you ask the question, the state knows where the load came from and where it’s going because the driver is required to log that information in their log books. Cooking the log books is big time trouble for all concerned. It’s cheaper in the end to register the rigs for whatever likely runs it’ll be.
