Operation Road Watch

 

Beginning this morning, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol will conduct Operation Road Watch to crackdown on motor carrier safety violations on North Carolina highways. Operation Road Watch will be conducted on I-77 in Surry County and other highways in surrounding counties for the next two days and will primarily focus on conducting safety inspections on motor carrier vehicles.

“The Highway Patrol is attempting to reduce the number of big truck crashes on our highways,” said Walter J. Wilson, Jr., commander of the State Highway Patrol. “We are going to make the highways as safe as possible. I have instructed our Troopers to aggressively crackdown on commercial motor vehicle violations.”

In 2008, Troopers investigated 5,090 of the 10,629 crashes involving motor carrier vehicles statewide. Last year 160 people were killed statewide and 4,990 injured in crashes involving motor carrier vehicles. Interstate 77 is a busy highway and has a high volume of commercial motor vehicle traffic.

Commercial motor vehicle crashes also contribute significantly to traffic congestion, an increasing problem on the state's highways. The Highway Patrol's motor carrier enforcement section, along with its local partners, has an obligation to both improve commercial motor vehicle safety as well as the efficiency of commercial vehicle operations. Law enforcement officials believe their efforts will result in fewer serious collisions between motorists and commercial motor vehicles, as well as the significant congestion that such collisions can cause.

 “The Highway Patrol is determined to reduce both fatal and non-fatal traffic collisions involving big trucks on North Carolina highways,” said Reuben Young, secretary of the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. “Trucks exceeding weight regulations or in violation of federal safety regulations compromise the safety of our highways.”

Road Watch is the first campaign in 2009 to concentrate solely on commercial motor vehicle violations and will be conducted in other counties later this year. Troopers will be using helicopters and unmarked patrol vehicles during the operation.

Additionally, State Troopers will be cracking down on motorists driving aggressively around big trucks and ticketing speeders, tailgaters and aggressive drivers. Motorists may report dangerous driving to the Highway Patrol by dialing *HP on their cellular phones.