Kentucky State Police (KSP) Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Officers will be participating in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Operation SafeDRIVE (Distracted Reckless Impaired Visibility Enforcement) from June 22-24. This enforcement campaign targets unsafe driving behavior that often leads to crashes involving passenger cars and commercial vehicles. It complements national efforts to educate all drivers on how to share the roads safely with large trucks.
The national SafeDRIVE initiative cracks down on dangerous interstate driving behaviors such as aggressive driving, speeding, tailgating, failing to wear a seat belt, distracted driving and driving under the influence. During this effort, KSP Commercial Vehicle Inspectors will have scale facilities open ensuring commercial drivers are following safety regulations, including hours of service compliance, commercial driver license compliance, medical certification, and commercial motor vehicle credentialing.
Major Nathan Day, Director for the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division says Operation SafeDRIVE can significantly impact highway safety.
“High visibility interstate enforcement combined with safety inspections at our scale facilities will ensure unsafe drivers and vehicles are removed from Kentucky highways,” says Day. “With so many motorists traveling through Kentucky during the summer months, our number one priority is their safety while they are in the commonwealth.”
KSP encourages all motorists to take the following advice while driving on the roads:
· Stay out of blind spots: Large trucks and buses have big blind spots on all four sides.
· Pass safely: Make sure you can see the truck driver in their side mirror. Use your turn signals and don’t linger in the blind spot. Make sure you can see the CMV vehicle in your rearview mirror before you pull in front.
· Don’t cut off large vehicles: It takes a large truck traveling at highway speeds the length of two football fields to stop.
· Don’t tailgate: Tailgating a commercial vehicle puts you in a blind spot.
In 2020, commercial trucks were involved in 5,640 collisions resulting in 101 fatalities and 1,112 injuries.
Operation SafeDRIVE coordinates with a national campaign run by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration called “Our Roads, Our Safety”, which educates all motorists on how to share the road safely.
