Texas Pulls 66,000 Unsafe Commercial Vehicles Off Road

The following article was published in The Insurance Journal on November 21, 2011:

Texas DPS:  More than 66K Unsafe Commercial Vehicles Sidelined This Year

Since the beginning of the year, Texas public safety officers have removed more than 66,000 unsafe commercial vehicles and more than 12,000 unsafe commercial drivers from the state’s roadways, the Department of Public Safety reports.

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven C. McCraw said the commercial vehicle enforcement personnel and specially-trained highway patrol troopers have inspected 331,505 commercial vehicles. As a result of these inspections, DPS removed 66,189 unsafe commercial vehicles and 12,301 unsafe commercial vehicle drivers from Texas roads for a variety of safety violations.

“Commercial vehicles are responsible for approximately 15 percent of the fatalities in Texas crashes,” said McCraw. “Most commercial vehicle operators obey the law; however, those who choose to drive unsafe commercial vehicles or drive a commercial vehicle unsafely pose a serious threat to the motoring public.”

McCraw cited Operation Texas Thunder initiatives, which are DPS surge enforcement operations in a targeted area, as one example of how DPS deals with unsafe truck and bus operators.

After complaints about truck traffic in McMullen County, a recent Operation Texas Thunder effort put 64 percent of the vehicles inspected during that operation out of service.

Another recent Texas Thunder operation in the Corpus Christi area resulted in almost 400 citations and 206 vehicles placed out of service.

Find this article here:  http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2011/11/21/224927.htm