You want to know if Connecticut or any of the surrounding states require wheel safety chock blocks (wheel chocks) on buses or any other type of vehicle.

According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, Connecticut does not require wheel chocks on buses or any other type of vehicle. Massachusetts and Rhode Island require them on certain vehicles, if the vehicles are not equipped with positive spring-loaded air parking brakes. The wheel chocks must be securely placed around the rear wheels of such vehicles when they are parked unattended on the highway on a grade sufficient to cause them to move on their own momentum.

Massachusetts requires the wheel chocks on buses that seat more than seven passengers; trucks that weigh more than 4,000 pounds when unloaded; and on tractors, trailers, semi-trailers or any combination thereof (Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. § 90-13). A first violation carries a $ 35 fine; a second or third violation within a 12-month period carries a $ 35 to $ 75 fine and $ 75 to $ 150 fine, respectively (Mass. Gen. Law Ann. § 90-20).

Rhode Island requires the wheel chocks on buses that seat more than seven passengers; trucks with a gross weight over 7,000 lbs; and tractors or trailers, or any combination thereof. They must be a type approved by the Division of Motor Vehicles, which must establish specifications and requirements for approved types (R. I. Gen. Laws § 31-43). A violation carries a $ 75 fine (R. I. Gen. Laws § 31-41. 1-4). The division must suspend the registration of covered motor vehicles not equipped with the chock blocks until they comply with the requirements.

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