60-6,288 Vehicles; width limit; exceptions; conditions; Director-State Engineer; powers.
60-6,288. Vehicles; width limit; exceptions; conditions; Director-State Engineer;powers.(1) No vehicle which exceeds a total outside widthof one hundred two inches, including any load but excluding designated safetydevices, shall be permitted on any portion of the National System of Interstateand Defense Highways. The Director-State Engineer shall adopt and promulgaterules and regulations, consistent with federal requirements, designating safetydevices which shall be excluded in determining vehicle width.(2)No vehicle which exceeds a total outside width of one hundred two inches,including any load but excluding designated safety devices, shall be permittedon any highway which is not a portion of the National System of Interstateand Defense Highways, except that such prohibition shall not apply to:(a)Farm equipment in temporary movement, during daylight hours or during hoursof darkness when the clearance light requirements of section 60-6,235 arefully complied with, in the normal course of farm operations;(b)Combines eighteen feet or less in width, while in the normal course of farmoperations and while being driven during daylight hours or during hours ofdarkness when the clearance light requirements of section 60-6,235 are fullycomplied with;(c) Combines in excess of eighteen feet in width,while in the normal course of farm operations, while being driven during daylighthours for distances of twenty-five miles or less on highways and while precededby a well-lighted pilot vehicle or flagperson, except that such combines maybe driven on highways while in the normal course of farm operations for distancesof twenty-five miles or less and while preceded by a well-lighted pilot vehicleor flagperson during hours of darkness when the clearance light requirementsof section 60-6,235 are fully complied with;(d) Combines andvehicles used in transporting combines or other implements of husbandry, andonly when transporting combines or other implements of husbandry, to be engagedin harvesting or other agricultural work, while being transported into orthrough the state during daylight hours, when the total width including thewidth of the combine or other implement of husbandry being transported doesnot exceed fifteen feet, except that vehicles used in transporting combinesor other implements of husbandry may, when necessary to the harvesting operationor other agricultural work, travel unloaded for distances not to exceed twenty-fivemiles, while the combine or other implement of husbandry to be transportedis engaged in a harvesting operation or other agricultural work;(e)Farm equipment dealers hauling, driving, delivering, or picking up farm equipment,including portable livestock buildings not exceeding fourteen feet in width,or implements of husbandry during daylight hours;(f) Livestockforage vehicles loaded or unloaded that comply with subsection (2) of section 60-6,305;(g) During daylight hours only, vehicles en route topick up, delivering, or returning unloaded from delivery of baled livestockforage which, including the load if any, may be twelve feet in width;(h)Mobile homes or prefabricated livestock buildings not exceeding sixteen feetin width and with an outside tire width dimension not exceeding one hundredtwenty inches moving during daylight hours;(i) Self-propelledspecialized mobile equipment with a fixed load when:(i) The self-propelledspecialized mobile equipment will be transported on a state highway, excludingany portion of the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, ona city street, or on a road within the corporate limits of a city;(ii)The city in which the self-propelled specialized mobile equipment is intendedto be transported has authorized a permit pursuant to section 60-6,298 forthe transportation of the self-propelled specialized mobile equipment, specifyingthe route to be used and the hours during which the self-propelled specializedmobile equipment can be transported, except that no permit shall be issuedby a city for travel on a state highway containing a bridge or structure whichis structurally inadequate to carry the self-propelled specialized mobileequipment as determined by the Department of Roads;(iii) Theself-propelled specialized mobile equipment's gross weight does not exceedninety-four thousand pounds if the self-propelled specialized mobile equipmenthas four axles or seventy-two thousand pounds if the self-propelled specializedmobile equipment has three axles; and(iv) If the self-propelledspecialized mobile equipment has four axles, the maximum weight on each setof tandem axles does not exceed forty-seven thousand pounds, or if the self-propelledspecialized mobile equipment has three axles, the maximum weight on the frontaxle does not exceed twenty-five thousand pounds and the total maximum weighton the rear tandem axles does not exceed forty-seven thousand pounds;(j)Vehicles which have been issued a permit pursuant to section 60-6,299; or(k)A motor home or travel trailer, as those terms are defined in section 71-4603,which may exceed one hundred and two inches if such excess width is attributableto an appurtenance that extends no more than six inches beyond the body ofthe vehicle. For purposes of this subdivision, the term appurtenance includes(i) an awning and its support hardware and (ii) any appendage that is intendedto be an integral part of a motor home or travel trailer and that is installedby the manufacturer or dealer. The term appurtenance does not include anyitem that is temporarily affixed or attached to the exterior of the motorhome or travel trailer for purposes of transporting the vehicular unit fromone location to another. Appurtenances shall not be considered in calculatingthe gross trailer area as defined in section 71-4603.(3) TheDirector-State Engineer, with respect to highways under his or her jurisdiction,may designate certain highways upon which vehicles of no more than ninety-sixinches in width may be permitted to travel. Highways so designated shall belimited to one or more of the following:(a) Highways with trafficlanes of ten feet or less;(b) Highways upon which are locatednarrow bridges; and(c) Highways which because of sight distance,surfacing, unusual curves, topographic conditions, or other unusual circumstanceswould not in the opinion of the Director-State Engineer safely accommodatevehicles of more than ninety-six inches in width. SourceLaws 1933, c. 105, § 1, p. 425; C.S.Supp.,1941, § 39-1032; R.S.1943, § 39-719; Laws 1957, c. 156, § 1, p. 563; Laws 1961, c. 182, § 1, p. 544; Laws 1963, c. 219, § 1, p. 691; Laws 1963, c. 220, § 1, p. 693; Laws 1963, c. 221, § 1, p. 697; Laws 1965, c. 212, § 1, p. 621; Laws 1969, c. 308, § 2, p. 1101; Laws 1973, LB 491, § 1; R.S.Supp.,1973, § 39-719; Laws 1974, LB 593, § 1; Laws 1975, LB 306, § 1; Laws 1977, LB 427, § 2; Laws 1978, LB 576, § 1; Laws 1978, LB 750, § 2; Laws 1980, LB 284, § 1; Laws1981, LB 285, § 2; Laws 1982, LB 417, § 1; Laws 1983, LB 244, § 1; Laws 1985, LB 553, § 3; Laws 1990, LB 369, § 3; R.S.Supp.,1992, § 39-6,177; Laws 1993, LB 370, § 384; Laws 1993, LB 413, § 1; Laws 1993, LB 575, § 35; Laws 1997, LB 226, § 1; Laws 1999, LB 704, § 47; Laws 2000, LB 1361, § 5; Laws 2001, LB 376, § 3; Laws 2008, LB756, § 23. Cross ReferencesWeighingstations, see sections 60-1301 to 60-1309. AnnotationsUnderthe exemption to the width limitations prescribed by subdivision (2)(f) ofthis section, the language "access to points on (dustless-surfaced) highways"means that if there is no other route available, one may move the qualifiedequipment over a dustless-surfaced highway. State v. Quandt, 234 Neb. 402,451 N.W.2d 272 (1990).Violation of a statute is evidence of negligence,but not negligence per se. Clark Bilt, Inc. v. Wells Dairy Co., 200 Neb. 20,261 N.W.2d 772 (1978).Exception in this section for unbaled livestockforage applied to load only and not to vehicle. State v. Sabin, 184 Neb. 784,172 N.W.2d 89 (1969).Width of vehicle may not exceed eight feetunless special permit is obtained. Frasier v. Gilchrist, 165 Neb. 450, 86N.W.2d 65 (1957).Where truck loaded with combine exceeded statutorypermissible width and was over centerline of the highway, it was evidenceof negligence. Novak v. Laptad, 152 Neb. 87, 40 N.W.2d 331 (1949).