Learn from this instead of finding out for yourself, OK?

byJosé Rodríguez Jr| PUBLISHED May 6, 2024 2:52 PM EDT

Culture photo — *Iowa State Patrol Commercial Motor Vehicle Unit via Facebook*

Iowa State Troopers were called to help out a county sheriff’s department during a traffic stop that was… less routine than usual. A local man had been pulled over for towing an entire mobile home using an uninsured and unregistered Ford L-Series dump truck, which he reportedly dragged out of retirement. The driver says it was an effort to help out a friend.

Troopers with the Iowa State Patrol Commercial Motor Vehicle Unit assisted in the stop since this is within their purview. The department took to social media to highlight the situation, claiming the traffic hazard it posed was called in by the public. When the local sheriff and troopers pulled over the revived Ford L-Series along an unspecified gravel route, they discovered it had not “been registered in 16 years,” and that it was missing the legal requirements to operate on a public road, including insurance and any permits for such an undertaking:

The man’s daughter replied to the post from the Iowa State Patrol to add a bit of context to the story as well as a statement from the driver himself, who is paying a $1,500 fine for driving the unregistered, uninsured, and unauthorized dump truck.

“I am in the process of handling things in a professional manner and that [sic] in my opinion the safety of the general public was never in danger,” he explained.

The 16-year gap in the Ford’s registration cited by the Iowa State Patrol seems to coincide with the amount of time that the dump truck went unused, as his daughter explains in a separate post. She goes on to say that she’s proud of her dad “for getting it going again.” Regardless of your feelings about the situation, you have to respect the mechanical expertise and gall it takes to repair a 30- to 40-year-old dump truck that had been decommissioned for so long.

To his credit, the driver publicly admits having made a mistake and accepts all liability for the subsequent citations.

“In the morning I will pay the $1,500 plus fines for my infractions of Iowa driving and registering laws,” he continued. “I made an honest mistake trying to help a friend and I did not think it through. My bad, my responsibility to fix it and I am already in the process of doing so.”