Are USPS Mail Trucks Immune From Local Traffic Laws?

I've never heard about such a claim before ... but it does raise some interesting points. Are US Postal Service vehicles and their drivers immune from local traffic laws?

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout...5944476.html

The claim seems simple enough and there were documented violations such as speeding in a school zone and running red lights. But does the delivery of mail make the postal drivers immune from being ticketed for such traffic violations? Does the delivery of mail take precedence over public safety?

Think about it. The USPS has one of the largest (if not the largest) fleet of vehicles in the country, yet few of them bear any license plates and the ones that do bear US Government Plates. They are not required to pass any State Motor Vehicle Inspection laws and I doubt their aging fleet is passing Federal emissions standards either (which is quite funny, considering how environmentally conscious they claim to be).

So where does one draw the line ... does it make them exempt from local traffic laws?

I drive a school bus and had a postal vehicle blow past my red stop sign. I brought it up to my supervisor and she checked into it. In theory it is true.

The analogy I got was if a police car, an ambulance, and a fire truck come to an intersection at the same time with lights and sirens blaring. And along from the fourth direction a mail truck, the mail truck has the right of way because of federal status.

I also asked someone from the post office about this and he said yes it is true as well but if you talked to the supervisor about it he can make the drivers day more interesting

About the most exciting thing I've seen them do around here is double-park. On the other hand, it is against the law for a postal customer to leave his car running in the Post Office parking lot, 3 big signs prohibit this.

I had a friend who was a driver of the USPS trucks that hauled mail at night from P.O. to P.O. and he told me they are not only immune from traffic laws but are not suppose to stop even if a Police car tries to stop them. This was back in the 1980's. However he said they as drivers are suppose to obey the laws.

My long deceased uncle, a postman, made the exact claim back in the early 60's!

From my experience, drivers of residential delivery mail vehicles, school bus drivers, and and the guys and gals working on garbage trucks should receive hazardous duty pay. Usually these people are not the problem but rather the victim of road insanity.

A little more clarification on the subject, which has now been reported by numerous media outlets over the past 48 hours:




And the report goes on to suggest:




http://fox8.com/2013/02/02/mayor-up...fic-tickets/

my ex-father-in-law was terminated from the USPS for getting his 3rd DUI while driving an interstate transit route.

Between college and medical school, I had a summer job with the post office in Minneapolis. One of my duties was to pick up mail from street corner mailboxes during the late afternoon rush hour in central Minneapolis. Naturally, I would have to double park. Vehicles would just go around me without honking or complaints. Everyone realized the postal truck and postal worker (me) was just doing his job.

If I was a private vehicle, no doubt I would have been ticketed.

kuhli... he should have lost his license as well.
running a red light is not in the same league as a dui, although the consequences can be the same.

The is a law Not only in the US. I lived in Japan for more than ten years. I still vividly remember that one day I was watching the Japanese police stopping and checking the traffic for criminals. A post office truck just went around all the stopped cars and momentarily stopped at the check point and simply said "Japanese Post" and left. There was a law in China to prevent delaying of the government mails for thousands of years. On some of the "I Chan" (Chinese Pony Express) large envelopes. it simple and clearly stated "transport at the speed of fire, violator will be beheaded...."

I think the main purpose of the law "Not having to stop" Is to protect the drivers and mail carriers from Robberies.

Very interesting! Well at least the US has a vehicle for mail. In the Philippines the mailman is in a shirt and jeans. Can't tell from an ordinary person to the mail man. As well as that there is no "official" vehicle. It's just random motorcycles or "mailman" take public transportation. On the plus though it is eco-friendly

The double parked Post Office vehicles aren't that bad. But, try and get around a UPS or FedEx truck that's double parked and it can get scary in a hurry. They never get a ticket so what protects them?

Art

My Father-in-law was a USDA Vet with a US Govt Licsence on the car. If He was speeding and A Texas State Trooper saw him, The trooper would wag his figure at him. Dad would just keep driving. This was in the 1980's.