Despite numerous efforts to stop it, truck drivers continue to get stuck on Smugglers’ Notch in Vermont every year. Now, lawmakers want to make that mistake too costly to ignore.
Smugglers’ Notch on state Route 108 is a scenic, mountain pass between Stowe and Cambridge. It is known for its narrow, snake-like winding turns. The Notch closes in late fall and does not reopen to traffic until around May.
Due to the tight turns, large trucks are not allowed on Smugglers’ Notch. Some brave or unsuspecting truck drivers have tried to navigate the obstacle course. Nearly all failed.
Those who get stuck create a headache for law enforcement and other motorists. It can take several hours to free a truck from the clutches of Smugglers’ Notch. With no way around a stuck truck, the 3.5-mile road is completely shut down.
Over the years, state officials have tried several times to stop truck drivers from entering Smugglers’ Notch.
Ten years ago, lawmakers codified the ban, increasing the penalty from $162 to $1,000. That fine increases to $2,000 if a struck driver causes major traffic delays.
Since then, truckers continued to get eaten up by the road. About five years ago, the Vermont Secretary of Transportation added several digital messaging signs warning truckers to turn around. The state also put up solar flashing beacons at each entrance to enhance the warning signs that already exist that read “TRACTOR TRAILERS PROHIBITED on VT108.”
Apparently, that has not worked either.
Most truck drivers entering Smugglers’ Notch were using non-commercial-vehicle GPS systems.
Three years ago, lawmakers tried to put GPS navigation providers on the hook by fining them for a trucker getting stuck if the system “did not provide explicit notice of the prohibitions.” The bill did not pass.
Two years ago, the Vermont Agency of Transportation tried a new approach: chicanes. A chicane is a structure that narrows a road, often creating an S-curve that forces traffic to slow down. Essentially, a literal roadblock for trucks. The first one opened on May 14, 2024. A trucker tried to plow through it on May 16, 2024.
Fines, signs and roadblocks are not doing anything, so lawmakers are going after truck drivers where it hurts the most: their wallets.
On Friday, March 20, the Vermont Senate passed a bill that would increase the penalty tenfold … again.
If the bill passes, any truck driver who gets on Smugglers’ Notch will fork over $10,000. Drivers who get stuck will have to pay $20,000.
If a driver is dumb enough to do it again within three years, the fines will double. That means a driver could potentially owe $60,000 for two trips down Smugglers’ Notch.
Lawmakers are not stopping there. A truck driver who gets busted for driving on the Notch will also get five points added to their driving record. That puts a trucker halfway to a license suspension.
The bill moves on to the Vermont House. If the House passes the bill with amendments, the Senate must approve before moving it to the Governor to sign into law. The House committee bill approval deadline is March 31. LL
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