random stops on COMMERCIAL trucks don't necesarily bother me. it's similar to the fact that law enforcement can conduct random inspections (taps, liquor license, server's license etc.) of a liquor establishment and to obstruct same is a crime
Why does not LE conduct random 'inspections' of patrons leaving a liquor establishment, with car-keys in their hand?
commercial vehicles are very highly regulated for good reason. they can cause immensely more damage than (most) private vehicles, and they are engaged in commerce, which has substantially less privacy protections (on a public road) than transport by private persons does and should.
Yet, far more non-commercial vehicles are involved in accidents than commercial vehicles. Why not hold non-commercial vehicles to the same standards and regulations? It is not about the private person or....what non-private person....er, public person driver guy, it is about the vehicle type. Commerce is commerce.
How many commercial vehicles involved in accidents on the roads are caused by the driver and how many are due to the driver getting caught up in a accident caused by a four-wheeler?
granted, in many respects, a truckers cab is his home away from home, but these are safety inspections, and my understanding is they are not searching his sleeping area, they are checking brakes, tire tread, stuff like that.
Does this apply to in-state only trucking? Does this apply to trucks that haul construction equipment as course of doing business only in their state? Does this apply to a farmer hauling his farm machinery to a remote field? What is the dividing line? Interstate highway travel or all roads within a state? What is deemed commercial and what is not? The license plate type does not denote commercial or non-commercial. 'Accidents' do not differentiate between commercial or non-commercial.
Granted, when a big truck gets in a wreck, a far worse outcome results, been there done that, dang four-wheelers.
Why does not LE conduct random inspections of non-commercial vehicles to check brakes, tire tread, stuff like that? Safety inspection sticker you may say? Not all states require them. How can a LEO determine from afar that the safety sticker, if one is required, is current or valid?
Heck, do I need federal permission to manufacture and sell firearms for use only in Missouri? Can I be held to account for a customer who could possibly 'transport' a Missouri only firearm to another state?