Hey, everybody, this is Ali Kamalzadeh Gurney Law and this is one reg a day where we highlight one Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation each and every day. And today we’re going to talk about something that we probably see on a daily basis on our local roads and highways. And that is a commercial motor vehicle pulled to the side or on the shoulder of the road. Now, they’re allowed to do that, for what it’s worth, they’re allowed to pull off to the side of the road or be on the shoulder, and we hope that they have and know to take certain steps when they do so. And those steps include having proper equipment on board to notify the motoring public — like you and me — that they are on the side of the road and to be careful and be aware.
And that is the regulation that we’re highlighting today, which is 49 CFR Section 392.9, titled emergency equipment inspection, use. Now before a commercial motor vehicle driver gets on the road. The regulation states that no commercial motor vehicle shall be driven unless the driver is satisfied that the emergency equipment is in place and ready for use, nor shall any driver fail to use or make use of such equipment when and as needed. Now we’re going to highlight what that emergency equipment is. Not all of it applies when a driver pulls off to the side of the road. But we’ll talk about that when we get there.
Now, first, a driver must ensure that they have a fire extinguisher. And depending on the type of load that they’re hauling, determines the number of — that’s right, they may have to have multiple fire extinguishers — and types of fire extinguishers on board.
Next are spare fuses. Fuses are these little devices that ensure that when a turn signal light or electronic equipment goes out in your vehicle, you have a proper fuse to replace it and get it back going. One example, is if you’re on the road, and you see cars in front of you and they put their turn signal on and all of a sudden the signal rather than flashing in a slow duration, it fires in rapid succession (like a super blinker) — that’s not normal. That’s an indicator that the fuse is coming to its end of life. Or worse, the person hits their turn signal and doesn’t realize that there’s no flashing light. You can imagine how important that is for a commercial motor vehicle that weighs tons and tons, if it’s on the side of the road and hits their hazards and hazards don’t come on, that’s an indicator that need to fuse and why it’s important that they do this pre-inspection check to ensure that they have extra fuses on board.
