B.C. RCMP say they issued more than $18,000 in tickets and caught more than 500 vehicle violations in just two days during a commercial vehicle safety crackdown.
The B.C. Highway Patrol, Mounties from Burnaby and Coquitlam and the provincial Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement branch teamed up to run the truck checks on July 8 and July 9.
Among the 543 total defects they caught were a driving school semi truck with non-compliant front brakes and a dump truck with holes in the bed leaking its load, bald tires and damaged rims.
“These are very thorough inspections. We are going top to tail, starting with the log books of the drivers, going over every piece of the engine, the suspension, the tires,” Highway Patrol spokesperson Cpl. Daniel McLaughlin said.
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“Typically, the things that we’re most concerned about are things like brakes, suspension, and tire wear. Those can be real problems if not dealt with immediately.”
Officers inspected 109 trucks in total, issuing 79 tickets.
More than half of the vehicles checked (58) were taken out of service.
Dave Earle, president and CEO of the B.C. Trucking Association, said he was “disappointed but not surprised” by the results of the crackdown.
He said members of the association frequently raise concerns about drivers on the road with unsafe equipment or who appear not to be sticking to the legally required biannual vehicle inspections.
“What it comes down to is we just do not have enough enforcement staff. The women and men of Commercial Vehicle Safety Enforcement do an outstanding job with the resources that they have but this has been an area that’s been neglected for many, many years,” he said.
“Our association’s been calling for greater enforcement, better penalties. Not changing regulations, just enforcing what we have, and this is the fallout from when these things are neglected.”
Police say there is no question the condition of some vehicles on the road is putting the public at risk.
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