By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
While an anti-speeding campaign is underway by law enforcement in Kentucky, there is a separate effort running through Thursday to cut down on crashes between passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
Kentucky State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Officers will be participating in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Operation SafeDRIVE (Distracted Reckless Impaired Visibility Enforcement) through June 24.
This enforcement campaign targets unsafe driving behavior that often leads to crashes involving passenger cars and commercial vehicles. It complements national efforts to educate all drivers on how to share the roads safely with large trucks.
The national SafeDRIVE initiative cracks down on dangerous interstate highway behavior, such as aggressive driving, speeding, tailgating, failing to wear a seat belt, distracted driving, and driving under the influence. During this effort, KSP Commercial Vehicle Inspectors will have scale facilities open ensuring commercial drivers are following safety regulations, including hours of service compliance, commercial driver license compliance, medical certification, and commercial motor vehicle credentialing.
CVE Director Major Nathan Day said Operation SafeDRIVE can significantly impact highway safety.
“High visibility interstate enforcement combined with safety inspections at our scale facilities will ensure unsafe drivers and vehicles are removed from Kentucky highways,” he said. “With so many motorists traveling through Kentucky during the summer months, our number one priority is their safety while they are in the Commonwealth.”
The KSP encourages all motorists to take the following advice while driving on the roads:
• Stay out of blind spots. Large trucks and buses have big blind spots on all four sides.
• Pass safely. Make sure you can see the truck driver in their side mirror. Use your turn signals and don’t linger in the blind spot, then ensure you can see the truck in your rearview mirror before you pull in front.
• Don’t cut off large vehicles. It takes a large truck traveling at highway speeds the length of two football fields to stop.
• Don’t tailgate. Tailgating a commercial vehicle puts you in a blind spot.
In 2020, commercial trucks were involved in 5,640 collisions resulting in 101 fatalities and 1,112 injuries.
Operation SafeDRIVE coordinates with a national campaign run by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration called “Our Roads, Our Safety,” educating all drivers on how to share the road safely.
