If a county road or bridge is in bad shape, the county's road engineer can set a lower weight limit for vehicles using it. Signs must be posted on the road and at both ends of the bridge to warn drivers. Driving a vehicle that is too heavy on that road or bridge is against the law, unless the right official gives special permission. Someone who breaks this rule can be charged with a class C misdemeanor and may have to pay for any damage caused to the road or bridge.
Classifications stated in the statute. Actual outcomes vary.
304.220. Weight limits on county roads and bridges reduced, when — for violation. — 1. Whenever the of any county, or in any county in which there shall be no engineer, such other officer as the may , shall find that any county road or bridge of such county is in such a condition that use thereof by vehicles of the weights specified in section 304.180, endanger the road or bridge, or the users thereof, the county highway engineer may with the approval of the of the state transportation whose includes the area in question establish maximum weight limits for vehicles using such road or bridge in such amounts as will preserve the road or bridge and provide a reasonable of safety to the users thereof. Notice of any such weight limit established shall be given by signs at convenient and public places along any such road, and in places at each end of any such bridge.
2. It shall be for any person to operate a vehicle of a weight in excess of the maximum limit established the of this section on or over any road or bridge upon which such maximum weight limits have been established unless the person shall have the express permission of the officer empowered to establish such limit.
3. Any person who shall violate the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a , and shall be in a for any to the road or bridge.
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Source & history notes
(L. 1943 p. 659 § 8407A, A.L. 1953 p. 595, A.L. 1996 H.B. 1047)
Related Missouri laws
Enforcement of load laws
RSMo 304.230
Reduction of maximum weight by highways and transportation commission
RSMo 304.210
Municipal law enforcement officers, state highway patrol to approve certification procedures
RSMo 304.232
Commercial vehicles licensed for eighteen thousand pounds or less not to stop at weigh station or be otherwise identified
RSMo 304.235
Violation of load law a misdemeanor
RSMo 304.240
Special permits for oversize or overweight loads
RSMo 304.200
Legal information, not legal advice. Always confirm with the official source at revisor.mo.gov.