Question:
Forgive me if this has been addressed previously, but I did a quick keyword search and came up empty-handed.
When approaching an open scale, and you see the ramp is full, what is the best course of action? Do you pull onto the shoulder, to the right of the white line to wait until you can get on the ramp? Do you stop, or crawl, in the travel lane until you can get on the ramp? Or, do you just blow on by, happy about your good fortune?
I know some scales instruct the drivers to bypass when full. Other scale masters pay attention to the traffic and will throw the closed, or bypass lights until things clear out. Unfortunately, some scales remain open even with a mile of cars parked on the highway.
Obviously, stopping in the travel lane is not a good idea, and hitting the shoulder isn't much better. What are the legal requirements when faced with this situation?
How about it JQP? Would you chase me down if I blew past your full hen-house with my crank handle hanging in the breeze?

Answer:

I had a student do this very thang back in New Mexico a few weeks ago. He was pulled over about 5 miles after he thought he was in the clear ....got lucky and was just lectured and told they would decide when the scales were to full.

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All Pending. At least Tennesse use to have signs up if Ramp is full bypass, if you do not see that, pull over to the shoulder of the road if possible, and even turn on your 4 ways. Other wise you could get kissed in the rearend by the 4wheeler who not paying any attention and can care less..

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This is one of my pet peeves. Another pet peeve is random inspections along the interstate.
My personal opinion is that both these actions are dangerous and should not be done. I work in a state (MD) that is possibly the worse state in the union for letting the scales back up onto the interstate. I have bypassed full scales before and never been stopped. I dont know what would happen if I were stopped, Im sure it would not be pretty and I'd probably end up in jail. I tend to speak my piece and I dont like being put in danger by the very people who claim to be promoting safety.
Anyway, the legal answer is that you will likely get a citation and fine for bypassing the scales. That said, I really do believe that if you have your ducks in a row and fought it, you would win. It wouldnt be hard to come up with statistical proof that its not safe stopping on the shoulder, most interstates are marked with signage stating not to stop unless its an emergency, your company probably has something in black and white that states that they dont want you to stop on the shoulder unless its an emergency, if you are hauling Hazmat, you cant stop that close to a roadway or you are breaking the law.
One of these days, I'll be defending myself for bypassing a full scale, I just hope I dont (edited) slap some dumbass for lecturing me about how he is god and I need to do everything he says no matter how stupid and dangerous it is.

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On a side note concerning getting "kissed" by a passing vehicle. Guess who would be on the top of my "who to sue" list. Thats right, the state would. Theres definately a case for wreckless endangerment or at least negligence for letting the line extend into the roadway. the same thing goes for random roadside inspections. If the officers only reason for stopping me beside a busy interstate is so he can maybe find something wrong and I get smashed by a passing vehicle, just go ahead and change the name of the state to "Rays place" because I'll own it, if Im still alive.

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Being inspected on the side of the road is like getting a speeding ticket on the side of the road, you are in the car and the officer is outside doing the inspecting.
Just maybe somebody can tell everybody, with a proof of how many accidents have been caused by being inspected on the side of the road? Remember you need to post reliable proof to your answer

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Being inspected on the side of the road is like getting a speeding ticket on the side of the road, you are in the car and the officer is outside doing the inspecting.
Just maybe somebody can tell everybody, with a proof of how many accidents have been caused by being inspected on the side of the road? Remember you need to post reliable proof to your answer

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Random inspections are not like speeding tickets. You werent stopped for doing something illegal. I have no problem if the DOT or the state police pull someone over for a safety issue they see or for breaking the law. I do have a problem with them pulling cars off the side of a busy highway just so they can look around them.
I honestly cant tell you how many accidents have occured because of roadside inspections. I can say that there are signs along most interstate systems that say "emergency stopping only", I can say that most companies have policies that say not to stop except for emergencies, I can say that HazMat rules say no stopping next to the highway. All of these rules are based on safe operation of a CMV. Then we have the assclown DOT officer that decides what he wants should override these common safety rules. I know we have all come up on brakechecks on busy highways that were a direct result of vehicles being stopped along the roadside. Again, I dont know the numbers, but common sense tells me there have been at least a few accidents caused by this.
My point in all this is to say that the side of a busy interstate is not a safe or appropiate place to conduct a safety inspection. Its not safe for the officer out walking around, its not safe for the cardriver who has to negotiate stopping and starting on a busy interstate and its not safe for the passing traffic who have to deal with the inherrent backup caused by the inspection.
There are better ways of doing random inspections, for example, some states set up in rest areas as opposed to stopping CMVs along the roadside, so Im not alone in feeling this way.

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Refering back to the original topic, stopped on the shoulder due to a full scale is not the same as getting a ticket or a roadside inspection. In these cases you have the code 3 lights running to ward off the evil 4 wheeler & inatentive cardriver. The scale driveway offers no such warning lamps to awaken other hiway users to the fact you are stopped or moving slowly on the shoulder.
I don't have the stats; I suggest simply watching any number of cop shows on tv when they're doing an expose' on cops nearly killed because someone ran into the side or back of the police car or the stopped vehicle. There's enough evidence there to prove a point of some kind.

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Indiana just put up billboards on I-65 and probably other highways showing a patrol car crushed while on the shoulder after stopping a car . Often lack of common sense makes the situation more dangerous . How often have you seen a car pulled over less than 1/2 mile before a rest area or right after a curve or just over a hill ? For some reason some officers angle their vehicles leaving part of the vehicle on the white line or sometimes over it partially in the right lane .

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What amazes me is that state troopers (edited) and complain about how dangerous it is for them to do their job and then they turn around and do something like the situations you mentioned above.
Ive got news, the officer decides when and where to stop a vehicle. If something happens, its no ones fault but theirs. Not only do they put themselves in harms way, but they put others in harms way as well and all in the name of making the roads "safer".
I understand them stopping vehicles for safety issues whether they be mechanical or driver related, but to just arbitrarily stop a car to have a look at his paperwork or to perform an inspection is just stupid. If they just must have a look at the car or the driver, do it someplace safe like a rest area or carstop or even a parking lot, anyplace but a couple feet from a roadway with vehicles passing by at 70 MPH. It seems like common sense to me. I guess common sense is something that isnt issued with a badge.

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I agree with this statement 100%. If you're speeding and the officer pulls you over it is because you were already breaking the law. Unless the officer sees a violation while you are rolling, pulling you over on the shoulder is ridiculous. At the very least, they should escort you to an exit ramp or parking area.
Dum da dum dum.