The Ohio Highway Patrol is out in full force looking for truckers violating safety standards based on claims that the “bulk of crashes” in the state are the “result of driver error.”
As of July 13th, the Ohio Highway Patrol has issued 18,228 commercial vehicle violations all along the state’s roadways, a system that officers believe will help keep Ohio’s roadways safer.
“We’re checking vehicles, the integrity of the braking system, if the brakes are in adjustment, if cargo is secured properly,” said Lieutenant John Thorne, leader of the northeast Ohio motor carrier enforcement team.
“[But] the bulk of our crashes that we’re seeing, they’re the result of driver error,” he said to News 5 Cleveland.
“We’re looking for speed, marked lane violations, following too close violations, commercial drivers that are distracted,” said Sergeant Todd Belcher.
“As a trucking company, if your drivers are continually getting stopped, and continually getting violations, you could be held responsible,” Belcher added, though Thorne later admitted that “it’s not only the trucker that is out there, it’s the people that are driving next to them too.”
“If people would slow down and wear their seat belts, and not drive impaired, then we’d have a lot less problems that are out there,” Thorne added.
Still, despite their admission to the realities of four-wheeler error, the Ohio Highway Patrol stands committed to scrutinizing truck drivers for their driving habits and equipment safety and has not found a way of educating the motoring public on how to properly drive around commercial vehicles.