North Carolina Highway Patrol Begins Weeklong Crackdown on Overweight Commercial Trucks
Today marks the beginning of the North Carolina Highway Patrol’s weeklong crackdown on overweight commercial trucks in a number of counties, including Mecklenburg County, Wake County, Robeson County, Guilford County, and Buncombe County. Troopers will be targeting trucks whose weight exceeds what is allowed under federal law, as well as trucks that purposely take alternate routes to avoid weighing stations. Truck safety inspections will also be conducted. Truck drivers apprehended while driving overweight trucks face stiff fines.
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for overweight trucks to try and get out of having to stop at a weighing station, and state troopers have had to use portable scales to catch trucks suspected of avoiding these stations. Annually, more overweight trucks have been cited from using portable scales than from actual weighing stations.
The weeklong crackdown is the latest in a serious of efforts by North Carolina state troopers to remove overweight trucks off state roads. In 2007, they were able to detect and remove at least 200 million pounds.
Overweight Trucks
Large commercial trucks that violate federal safety standards because they weight too much are considered dangerous. Trucks that are overweight can be more difficult to drive and harder to stop. They are also more prone to rollover accidents and can more easily damage roads and bridges at a faster rate. With every excessive ton that a truck carries, the greater the chance that someone could get injured or killed during a large truck crash.
A Few Large Truck Crash Facts
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the yearly death toll caused by large truck collisions is equal to that of twenty-six large plane crashes in a year.
• The larger truck—even trucks weighing a legal 80,000 pounds—the greater the chances the commercial vehicle could become involved in a deadly truck accident.
• The larger the truck and the more it weighs, the more time it needs to brake in order to stop.
Truck accidents can be grounds for a North Carolina wrongful death claim or a personal injury lawsuit.
NC Highway Patrol to conduct truck weight crackdown, Citizen-Times, April 13, 2009
Fewer Overweight Trucks Make Safer Roads, Troopers Say, WRAL.com, December 12, 2007
The Dangers of Large Trucks, Advocates for Highway Safety
Related Web Resources:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Our Charlotte truck accident lawyers would like to invite you to contact us for a free case evaluation. Call or send an email to the Law Offices of Michael A DeMayo LLP.
