[RC] Pine Marten Run/riders coming over the Mackinaw Bridge - Kathy Macki
I am posting this for Karen Bahrman,
ride manager for Pine Marten Run in Upper Michigan.
Attention Lower Michigan riders traveling to the
Pine Marten Run or other Upper Peninsula destination:
You will be told by a toll booth attendant at the
Mackinaw Bridge that you need to pull into the rest area for a livestock
inspection, where a clueless Department of Agriculture employee will hold you up
for half an hour with questions about your rig, origin and destination; your
coggins certificate will be examined, but not checked against the horse(s)
you're hauling(!)
Be advised that, while the Department of
Agriculture can demand to see your coggins certificate, just like police can
demand to see your driver's license/registration/proof of insurance, they both
still need probable cause to stop and/or detain motorists and the mere fact that
you're pulling a horse trailer is not probable cause to
believe you've violated the Animal Industry Act any more than leaving a bar at 2
a.m., is probable cause to believe you're violating the Motor Vehicle Code;
sobriety checkpoints have never been constitutional in Michigan and neither are
"coggins checkpoints."
So, my advice is to smile and nod at the tollbooth
attendant and keep on driving - no one will pursue you as the Department of
Agriculture is well aware that they lack the authority to stop and detain
motorists at the Mackinaw Bridge.
