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NEWS RELEASE

Kentucky State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement officers are participating in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Operation SafeDRIVE (Distracted Reckless Impaired Visibility Enforcement), now through Thursday.

This enforcement campaign targets unsafe driving behavior that often leads to crashes involving passenger cars and commercial vehicles and complements national efforts to educate all drivers on safely sharing roads with large trucks.

The national SafeDRIVE initiative cracks down on dangerous interstate driving behaviors such as aggressive driving, speeding, tailgating, failing to wear a seat belt, distracted driving, and driving under the influence.  During this effort, KSP Commercial Vehicle Inspectors will open scale facilities, ensuring commercial drivers follow safety regulations.  That includes hours of service compliance, commercial driver license compliance, medical certification, and commercial motor vehicle credentialing.

Sgt. Jason Morris, West Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Spokesperson, says Operation SafeDRIVE can significantly impact highway safety.

“It is important to our officers that everyone travels safely on our roadways,” he stated. “Operation SafeDRIVE is an opportunity for us to ensure drivers follow the rules of the road and offer tips to keep drivers protected.”

KSP encourages all drivers to take the following advice while driving on the roads:

• Stay out of blind spots.  Large trucks and buses have big blind spots on all four sides.

• Pass safely.  Make sure you can see the truck driver in their side mirror.  Use your turn signals, and don’t linger in the blind spot.  Also make sure you can see the commercial motor vehicle in your rearview mirror before pulling in front.

• Don’t cut off large vehicles.  It takes a large truck traveling at highway speeds the length of two football fields to stop.

• Don’t tailgate.  Tailgating a commercial vehicle puts you in a blind spot.

Operation SafeDRIVE is running in coordination with a national campaign by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration called “Our Roads, Our Safety,” which educates all drivers on how to share the road safely.