Police: Better GPS Could Have Kept Florida Trucker Out Of Jail
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CANONSBURG, Pa. (CBSMiami/AP) — A trucker, from Hialeah, is locked up in western Pennsylvania because he can't pay $10,000 collateral on a $17,386 fine for driving a 40-ton truck on a road with a 10-ton limit.
Police say Francisco Amareles-Amareles, hauling a gas drilling pipe, might have avoided the situation if he had just bought a better global positioning system device that would have alerted him to the weight limit.
Amareles-Amareles was arrested Saturday after police saw him drive his 40-ton rig onto a narrow road with a 10-ton limit.
Because the driver spoke broken English, police couldn't be sure what he was trying to do. But they believe he mistook Alpine Street in Canonsburg for Alpine Drive, a rural road in Cecil Township.
A local district judge refused to release the driver unless he posted $10,000 to secure his appearance at a Wednesday hearing on the $17,386.50 fine. The judge also issued an order impounding the truck until the whole fine is paid.
Canonsburg police Officer Scott Bashioum told The Associated Press that Amareles-Amareles was driving for A. J. Logistics Transport Inc., of Concord, North Carolina. Calls to the company were not immediately returned Tuesday.
Court records don't list a defense attorney for the driver.
Bashioum said drivers using a commonly available $60 GPS system instead of a commercial system costing about $600 are winding up on low-limit roads that the more expensive system would alert them to avoid.
"The commercial GPS is programmed to keep truck or bus drivers off roads with 10-ton weight limits," Bashioum told the (Washington) Observer-Reporter, which first reported the arrest Tuesday.
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
