The Ontario Provincial Police Operation Safe Trucking blitz was held last week and focused on unsafe transport truck driving habits.
Officers took to the highway in transport trucks themselves for a better vantage point and deployed OPP aircraft and sprinter vans to help with enforcement, pulling over 3,500 commercial vehicles in the process.
Although the police gave advanced notice of the campaign, 71 unsafe commercial vehicles were taken out of service
Of the 1,836 total charges laid during the week-long initiative, over 500 were for improper documentation. Others included:
- speeding
- distracted driving
- defective equipment
- following too close
- other moving violations
During the operation, officers also found several passenger vehicles engaged in distracted driving and speeding.
While there were many safe truckers observed on the road, OPP Commissioner Vince Hawkes said more work is needed on the issue.
“Our ‘Operation Safe Trucking’ enforcement results are the latest reminder that more work needs to be done to reduce the serious public safety risks posed by some commercial motor vehicle drivers. As expected, our officers noted that the vast majority of CMV drivers were operating their trucks in a safe manner during this initiative. The OPP would like to thank these (and other) drivers who contribute to safe roads and help save lives.” said Hawkes.
Operation Safe Trucking is the latest initiative in support of the OPP Collision Mitigation Strategy for commercial vehicles with the goal of reducing the number of crashes.
