By Staff
October 9th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton District Police Service reports on the 2020 two day commercial vehicle traffic blitz that took place earlier in the week.
Highway 401 runs through the Region – all that heavy commercial traffic needs a close watch. The Regional Police have a special unit focused on this work
The inspections were done at the Mohawk Racetrack in Milton.
The purpose of the blitz is to conduct proactive enforcement to ensure compliance with legislation pertaining to mechanical fitness, weights, load security, safety / inspection, compliance and licencing.
With the help of neighbouring police services and agencies, officers were able to inspect 340 commercial motor vehicles with the following results:
• Total commercial motor vehicles inspected: 340
• Total commercial motor vehicles taken out of service: 96 (28 per cent failure rate)
• Total charges laid: 250
• Sets of licence plates seized by police: 7
2019 Results (for comparison):
• Total commercial motor vehicles inspected: 305
• Total commercial motor vehicles taken out of service: 99 (33 per cent failure rate)
• Total charges laid: 239
• Sets of licence plates seized by police: 11
Alcohol screening at the blitz also led to licence suspensions for three drivers. One of the alcohol related licence suspensions was identified as a 14-year suspended driver. This resulted in a 7-day vehicle impound. A total of 19 charges were laid against the driver and his employer, including overweight vehicle, no insurance and multiple mechanical issues.
“Issues identified at the blitz varied across all categories and are reflective of those commercial motor vehicle type offences seen throughout the year,” said Traffic Services Unit Sergeant, Ryan Snow.
Tractor trailers get very close inspections.
“The mechanical issues identified suggest a lack of maintenance and due diligence in daily inspections. Weights also continue to be a safety concern as police continuously note that dump truck drivers claim little control pertaining to overloading of their vehicles. These weight-specific concerns remain an area of ongoing education and enforcement given the obvious handling and braking issues that can occur, along with the additional damage that these weights can render to roadways.
“It should also be highlighted that an out of service rate of 28% only means 28% of trucks directed into the blitz failed to meet required standards, and is not necessarily a reflection of all trucks on area roadways.”
Anne wasthe victim of an overloaded truck that lost the top part of its load when it went under an overpass on the 403. There was nowhere for her to go to avoid the flying metal that headed for her brand new car and her. It was a miracle that none of it hit the windscreen only the car. Fortunately she managed to get the licence plate as the vehicle failed to stop. Police did an excellent job in confirming the truck was involved in the damage sustained. 99 vehicles removed from the road 33% clearly shows how important a programme this is. Will be asking Chief Tanner should we not be doing more of these inspections. 33% failure rate says we should.