The Department of Motor Vehicles and the Connecticut State Police spent three days this month stressing the rules of the road to truck and bus drivers as part of the national ‘Roadcheck’ program.

Police officers focused on traffic, weight and mechanical violations for commercial vehicles, for the most part.

DMV officers in Connecticut worked together with the state police to enforce violations and to conduct spot checks to make sure trucks and buses had functioning brakes and lights. They also reviewed the drivers’ logs to ensure that they were not driving more than they are allowed to under federal law.

According to a DMV inspector, he saw big rigs with 10 brakes and only three working, loads that were improperly secured, steering units about to fail, broken frames and so on.

The inspectors also checked the weight on trucks to be sure they were not overweight. Overweight trucks destroy the roads quickly, which can lead to serious safety problems for all drivers.

 Our View

All commercial vehicles must adhere to the regulations stated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. A key regulation is Section 393, which is called Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation. Many truckers fail to comply with this essential safety regulation to save money. They often drive their rigs without proper safety equipment and daily inspections, which can cause serious and even fatal accidents.

Our Virginia truck crash lawyers have handled wrongful death cases where a big rig had underinflated tires, bad brakes, broken lights and other serious violations. Having poor brakes and bad tires are serious safety risks. It is shocking to see how many truck drivers drive their rigs with these types of safety problems, which lead to injury, death and lawsuits.

We are glad that the police and DMV in CT take truck and bus safety seriously, and hope they conduct these types of checks annually.