Truck drivers in California and around the country can expect more scrutiny between June 6 and June 8 as law enforcement agencies take part in the annual International Road check safety blitz conducted by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. The nonprofit organization says that the goal of the effort is to protect road users and prevent truck accidents by encouraging compliance with and enforcing federal safety regulations.
Inspectors will be paying close scrutiny to how well cargo is secured during the 2017 International Road check. Cargo checks are a routine part of roadside commercial vehicle inspections, but loose loads and worn, damaged or insufficient cargo tie-downs are more likely to cause trucks to be ordered off the road during the yearly safety push. The CVSA says that truck drivers and companies can avoid such problems by ensuring that loads are secure and all vehicle equipment is functioning properly.
About 15 trucks and buses are inspected each minute during International Road check according to the CVSA, and more than one in five of the 42,236 vehicles pulled over by inspectors during the 2016 effort were ordered out of service. Most of the inspections during the 2016 event were the rigorous North American Standard Level I inspections, and brake violations were the most common reason cited for ordering trucks off the roads.
The citations handed out during safety initiatives like International Road check can also be useful to personal injury attorneys pursuing civil remedies on behalf of occupants of other vehicles who have been harmed in truck accidents. Truck operators owe all road users a duty of care to take all reasonable steps to prevent accidents and injuries, and repeated violations of federal safety rules could be used in court to establish a pattern of reckless behavior and a callous disregard for the safety of others.