Various agencies held a 24-hour safety blitz for commercial motor vehicles called Operation Corridor.
Northumberland OPP, Peterborough County OPP, OPP Highway Safety Division, Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Environment were involved.
OPP Traffic Sgt. Mark Collins said the purpose of the enforcement was to make sure the commercial motor vehicles travelling along the roadways are safe and not causing any danger to the general motoring public.
“It’s been a very productive morning.”
“So far we’ve had quite a few individuals stopped and I think there are four or five vehicles that are out of service.”
One of the few vehicles inspected was a car that had rims that were to big for the tires.
Officers would bring in commercial vehicles to the MTO yard just north of Highway 401 on County Road 28 for an inspection.
“We’re seeing a lot of equipment problems. The trucks themselves aren’t up to spec as far as safety goes. We’re also seeing a lot of unsafe loads.”
Collins said a lumber on top of a truck from Quebec wasn’t tied down and a person could pull it out by hand.
“The chances of that flying off and hitting somebody are pretty good at this point driving from Quebec to Toronto.”
There are also insecure items including a trailer being towed by a pick-up truck that had a propane tank in a wheel barrel that was not secured.
“Anything that is in the back of a pickup truck has to be tied down,” said Collins.
“You can’t use twine and you can’t use string. We’re also seeing people putting things in the back of pick-up trucks and counting on gravity to hold them in – totally illegal, but also, very, very unsafe.”
Collins states a lot of it is just common sense and general knowledge of your vehicle.
“We are doing enforcement, but we’re also doing education.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
