Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Deputies Targeting Unsafe Trucks

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office is targeting unsafe commercial vehicles during “Operation Road Check.”

Through Thursday, deputies will be stopping commercial vehicles around the clock to inspect tires, brakes and other safety equipment on roads throughout Collier County.

Deputies will aggressively enforce state and federal laws as they relate to the operation of commercial motor vehicles as part of the annual statewide program, which started Tuesday. Vehicles found to be in violation will be put out of service until the problem is fixed.

Since 2004, deputies have conducted more than 2,000 safety inspections of commercial vehicles in Collier.

“Approximately 35 percent to 40 percent of those vehicles inspected were found to be in noncompliance and were immediately removed from the roadways,” said Sgt. Chris Gonzalez of CCSO’s Safety Traffic and Enforcement Bureau. “Those removals were a result of brake failure, steering component failure and tire concerns, as well as the vehicles’ load not being properly secured.”

CCSO deputies will also combine forces with Florida Department of Transportation officers for one day on Interstate 75 to check that commercial vehicles’ loads are secure and don’t exceed weight restrictions.