State Police Conducts Over 950 Commercial Vehicle Inspections During Operation Safe Driver

Contact: Lt. Patrick Morris, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, (989) 758-1909

Agency: State Police

LANSING.  In an effort to reduce crashes involving commercial vehicles, Michigan State Police (MSP) motor carrier officers teamed up with enforcement officers from across the nation to participate in Operation Safe Driver, a national awareness and enforcement campaign that ran from October 16 - 22, 2011.  Officers focused on improving both commercial and non-commercial driver behavior and performance through effective enforcement, education, and awareness strategies.

During this year's Operation Safe Driver Initiative, MSP motor carrier officers conducted traffic stops on 1,046 commercial vehicles, which resulted in 956 safety inspections during which officers noted 700 driver violations and 615 vehicle violations.  Officers also placed 30 drivers and 53 vehicles out-of-service for serious safety violations.  Additionally, 527 citations were issued for various driver, equipment, and traffic violations; some of which include speed, following too closely, and careless driving.

In 2010 Michigan experienced 10,729 commercial vehicle involved crashes, including 93 fatal crashes and 1,829 injury crashes. 

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) the annual cost of large truck crashes nationally exceeds $19 million.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), in collaboration with FMCSA, designed and endorsed Operation Safe Driver in response to crash causation factors identified in the Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) mandated by the US Congress through the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 (MCSIA).