During Operation Safe Trucking last week, the Ontario Provincial Police stopped 4,254 commercial motor vehicles (CMV), laid 2,479 charges and took 120 unsafe CMVs out of service.

During the blitz, the OPP covertly conducted highway patrol resulting in 114 distracted driving charges against CMV drivers.

OPP aircraft and the use of OPP non-traditional patrol vehicles were also used for enforcement, providing an enhanced view of aggressive CMV drivers. Speeding accounted for 576 of the charges, 75 were the result of Follow Too Closely and an additional 269 charges were laid for other moving violations.

A number of CMV's were found to have defective equipment, making up 214 of the charges. Improper documentation saw the highest number of CMV charges (794).

There were no CMV-related fatalities reported during this period.

When CMV drivers were not drawing the OPP's attention, officers spotted a number of passenger vehicles whose drivers were charged with various violations such as distracted driving and speeding.

Passenger vehicle drivers are also reminded that they are accountable to the law, and should provide adequate space to CMVs to ensure the highways are safe for everyone.

As expected, our officers noted that the vast majority of CMV drivers were operating their trucks in a safe manner during this initiative. The OPP would like to thank these (and other) drivers who contribute to safe roads and help save lives.

Operation Safe Trucking is the latest initiative to support the OPP CMV Collision Mitigation Strategy, the goal of which is to reduce the number of CMV collisions on OPP-patrolled roads.

source: media release, Ontario Provincial Police