(a) Except otherwise as provided herein, any driver or operator who violates the Act or a rule promulgated under the Act, or any owner or user of any bus, truck, truck tractor, or trailer, or certain other motor vehicles, or any officer or agent of any individual, partnership, corporation, or association or their lessees or receivers appointed by any court, which is the owner or user of any vehicle, who requires or permits the driver or operator to operate or drive any bus, truck, truck tractor, or trailer, or certain other motor vehicles, in violation of the Act or a rule promulgated under the Act, is guilty of a misdemeanor for each violation.
(b) A peace officer or an officer of the Motor Carrier Division of the Department of State Police, upon reasonable cause to believe that a motor vehicle is being operated in violation of the Act or a rule promulgated pursuant to the Act, may stop the motor vehicle and inspect the motor vehicle. If a violation is found, the officer may issue a notice to appear for that violation.
(c) In addition to any penalty imposed under the Act, a third or subsequent violation within one year of the rules promulgated pursuant to the Act with respect to hours of service and recording those hours in a daily log may result in an audit of the driver of the vehicle by the Motor Carrier Division of the Department of State Police.
(d) The Act does not apply to a unit of government or its employees, officers, or representatives or to a motor vehicle, truck, truck tractor, or trailer owned or operated thereby, except as provided in Section 601a of the Michigan Motor Vehicle Code, Act No. 300 of the Public Acts of 1949, being Section 257.601a of the Michigan Compiled Laws.
(Ord. 97-10. Passed 11-5-97.)