On Wednesday, October 10 and Thursday, Oct. 11, members of the Upper Ottawa Valley Detachment of the OPP, with the assistance of the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), conducted a two day Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) safety initiative in the Upper Ottawa Valley OPP Detachment area.
Officers and police resources were strategically deployed to locations on the Highway 17 corridor based upon local analytics involving CMV’s. Officers focused on mechanical safety of the vehicles and unsafe driving behaviours
During the safety initiative, 37 CMV’s were stopped and inspected by officers. Eight CMV’s were taken out of service as a result of mechanical defects and safety issues. A variety of charges were laid under the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) including log book and inspection violations, and two for overweight CMV’s.
In addition to the CMV related charges, officers charged 10 motorists under the HTA for failing to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles and tow trucks. The law requires drivers to slow down and proceed with caution when approaching an emergency vehicle or tow truck parked on the side of a highway with its lights activated. If the highway has more than one lane the driver is required to move over and leave one lane between their vehicle and the emergency vehicle when it can be done safely.
Further CMV safety initiatives will occur in 2018 and officers remain vigilant on a daily basis for all types of violations that put the safety of all road users at risk.
