72-hour Roadcheck '08 starts June 3
The Trucker News Services
5/27/2008
WASHINGTON — Thousands of law enforcement officers will be blanketing North America’s roadways for 72 continuous hours beginning Tuesday, June 3, to hammer home the importance of comprehensive safety inspections of trucks and buses and on enforcing safety belt use.
“Roadcheck 2008” sponsored by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), will dispatch federal, state, provincial and local inspectors to more than 1,000 locations across the continent to conduct comprehensive North American Standard Level I Inspections.
“While we certainly have a long way to go, we can never be satisfied until we have zero deaths,” said Stephen F. Campbell, CVSA’s executive director. “It is clear there have been dramatic safety improvements over the last 20 years and, in large part, this success has been the direct result of an increase in roadside inspections and enforcement through the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP).”
In 1988, to conduct these activities $50 million in federal dollars were made available to the states through the MCSAP versus $197 million in 2007.
Last year, the 62,370 roadside inspections performed during Roadcheck saved 15 lives and prevented 271 injuries. Over the course of a year, that performance rate would equal 1,825 lives saved and 32,972 injuries prevented. Annually, there are more than 3.5 million roadside inspections conducted across North America.
Roadcheck was launched in 1988 when there were 4,885 fatal crashes involving large trucks resulting in 5,679 fatalities in the U.S. That equates to 4.12 crashes per 100 million miles. Also in 1988, there were 94.4 (per 100 million miles) persons injured in large truck crashes, and 215.2 (per 100 million miles) large trucks involved in property damage only crashes. Fast forward to 2006 and the statistics show dramatic improvements: 2.24 fatalities/100 million miles (84 percent improvement), 47.4 injuries/100 million miles (99 percent improvement) and 134.4 PDO/100 million miles (60 percent improvement).
“Roadcheck gets to the core of what CVSA stands for: uniformity and reciprocity of commercial vehicle inspections and enforcement activities. It is through programs such as this that we are able to demonstrate to the public that we are getting results,” said Campbell.
“CVSA plays a pivotal role in making our roadways safer, and Roadcheck is just one of the many methods used to accomplish that goal,” says John H. Hill, Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. “Partnering with CVSA has been a great success and the statistics prove it—Roadcheck and other enforcement activities conducted throughout the year save lives.”
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance is a not-for-profit association of local, state, provincial, and federal officials responsible for the administration and enforcement of truck and bus safety laws in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Our mission is to promote commercial motor vehicle safety and security by providing leadership to enforcement, industry and policy makers. This is accomplished by establishing effective transportation safety standards for motor carriers, drivers, vehicles, and inspectors through compliance, education, training, and enforcement programs. In addition, CVSA has more than 330 associate members who are committed to helping the Alliance achieve its goals. These associate members include truck and bus companies, industry associations, insurance companies, manufacturers, safety and security product and service providers, research organizations, commercial vehicle drivers, academia, and individuals dedicated to highway safety and security.
For more information on the event or CVSA visit www.cvsa.org.
