OPP targets commercial vehicles in Operation Corridor

The Ontario Provincial Police are targeting unsafe commercial vehicles and drivers starting June 17 as part of Operation Corridor, an annual highway safety blitz that raises awareness among commercial vehicle drivers about safe operation and maintenance of transport trucks and other large commercial vehicles.

Operation Corridor got underway at 6 a.m. this morning and will run until 6 a.m. on June 18.

During last year’s Operation Corridor initiative, OPP officers across the province laid a total of 267 charges which include 86 for speeding, 55 seatbelt charges, 11 speed-limiter charges, 111 equipment-related charges, one impaired driving charge and three other Criminal Code charges.

Fifty-one commercial motor vehicles were taken out of service during the 24-hour provincewide initiative.

Commercial vehicles have the potential to cause significant damage in collisions, endangering the lives of the many people who travel Ontario’s busiest highways.

In 2013, the Ontario Provincial Police investigated more than 8,400 collisions that involved large commercial vehicles — 68 of those collisions resulted in someone dying.

In 2012, the OPP investigated almost 13,500 commercial vehicle collisions and the number of fatal crashes in this category reached a five-year high at 99.

“Operation Corridor is an excellent opportunity to educate commercial vehicle drivers about the importance of having a flawless safety checklist,” said the OPP in a news release.

“When you consider the high volume of large, load-bearing commercial trucks on highways each hour of each day, it is imperative that those who drive them are 100 per cent compliant with this checklist because it will ultimately save lives.”

Find out more about the OPP Provincial Traffic Safety Program go to www.opp.ca.