When the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board passed a law limiting parking to two hours at rest areas more than 20 years ago, Martin Krebs said the intent was not to force tired truckers back out on the road, but to discourage people from sleeping inside the facilities.
The two-hour parking limit issue resurfaced recently after an OOIDA member called Land Line after he was ticketed for parking at a rest area in Virginia. When he explained to the state trooper that he was out of hours and would be in violation of federal hours-of-service regulations if he moved his truck, he was told to move on or face possibly having his truck towed and arrested.
Since that initial article ran online Feb. 2, Land Line has heard from countless OOIDA members who have been rousted from their sleeper berths by the VSP and ticketed for violating the rest area's time limit.
Krebs said this latest incident may mean it's time for VDOT to re-emphasize its message about "lenient enforcement" to the state troopers who patrol the rest areas. He said VDOT has requested a report on enforcement activities at rest areas from the VSP. Krebs said that report is due back in approximately four to six weeks.
"Since the VSP are our partners in enforcement activity at the sites, we are in the process of getting some information from them on how strictly they enforce the time limit," he said.
"A policy of waking up truck drivers while they are sleeping at public rest areas that have parking time limits can pose significant safety problems for drivers and others on the roadways," according to the NTSB's report.
However, nine years after the NTSB's initial safety report, the two-hour limit still exists at Virginia's rest areas.