Saturday's Internet Edition, May 17, 2008.
|
“Operation Road Watch is to help protect the infrastructure of our highways,” 1st Sgt. Johnny Leonard of the N.C. Highway Patrol said. “It is to remove unsafe drivers and vehicles from the roadways.”
Troopers weighed 606 commercial motor vehicles and 265 trucks, recording 153,040 over-weight pounds and producing $15,678 in fines.
A total of 323 driver violations were recorded — 43 of those were removed from service. There were 598 truck violations and 78 of those were taken out of service.
“[The statistics] were actually pretty good,” Leonard said. “It let us know we are getting the job done. We wanted to get the unsafe drivers [off the highway].”
Out-of service fines totaled more than $11,000. According to a Highway Patrol news release, out-of service violations are serious and result in the driver of the vehicle being placed out of service. Drivers who are placed out-of-service are not allowed to operate on the highway until all safety violations are corrected and fines are paid.
The watch was conducted on Interstate 85 in Davidson County from 6 a.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Friday and primarily focused on conducting safety inspections on motor carrier vehicles.
“We were looking for vehicles operating in a careless and reckless manner in and around commercial motor vehicles,” Leonard said. “It is not always the commercial motor vehicle’s problem when it comes to a collision. It is sometimes vehicles not giving any leeway in and around the commercial motor vehicles vicinity.”
Leonard said his agency was looking for drivers who were fatigued and possibly operating under a suspended license.
The watch was the first campaign to concentrate solely on commercial motor vehicle violations. During the watch, the Highway Patrol used helicopters and unmarked patrol vehicles.
Staff Writer Darrick Ignasiak can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 231, or ignasiak@tvilletimes.com.