Opinion

Letter: Confiscate trucks stuck in Notch

By on • ( 4 Comments )

Mere fines won’t deter stupid

Within the last two weeks, two tractor-trailers driven by out of state drivers have become stuck in Smugglers Notch. Time to crack down, a Montpelier resident says.

To the editor: ‘Nuff of Smuggler’s Notch craziness! VT should sue Google Maps for misleading truck drivers and request punitive damages for blocking travelled roadways. Vermont also should:

  • Sue companies who require their drivers to follow GPS regardless of public safety or common sense.
  • Take draconian actions against truck drivers by changing the statute and requiring an automatic suspension for any oversized vehicle stuck in the Notch.
  • Criminally charge the driver for “reckless endangerment.”
  • Have the asset forfeiture program apply to stuck trucks. One word gets out that the state will confiscate the truck, its cargo, and arrest the driver, and suspend the CDL license in VT – folks will figure it out.

A mere $2000 fine (or is it $3,400, or is it $1,000) – I have seen all three in the last month – isn’t going to deter stupid.

Another option is to make it a toll road and charge a minimum of $10,000 cash for any vehicle longer than 24 feet. Charly Dickerson, Montpelier

Categories: Opinion

4 replies »

  1. right on. the gps providers should be sued an a law to provide traffic enforcement items on gps.

  2. The real problem is the Notch has all those curves. Now if we just straighten them out a bit the truckers, regardless of GPS source, would have no issue navigating them. Just think of the project and all the construction jobs that would be created as long as the Sierra Club et al did not jump in a la Cirq Highway or Pine St. Connector. No blockages and we are all on our way to smooth sailing.
    On to the next issue….

  3. I have a great cheap idea make a curved barrier at the bottom that big trucks couldn’t get thru problem solved. As far as going thu covered bridges. Do like I saw in Penn. Make a “I” beam structure 30 feet back from the bridge when the trailer or the load starts coming off, they will stop. No damage to the bridge and still far enough back to take pictures.

  4. KNEE JERK LIBERAL, PUNISH TEN FOLKS, TO GET TO THE BAD GUY,
    YOU DUMB BASTARDS AIN’T SMART ENOUGH TO INSTALL BOLLARDS IN AN ESS TO STICK’M BEFORE THE NOTCH, MAKE’M REMOVABLE FOR WINTER. NEVER TIME TO DO IT RIGHT, ALWAYS TIME TO DO IT OVER