Traffic Enforcement Around Commercial Motor Vehicles Presented by Sergeant J.D. Williams Colorado State Patrol

Why Should I be Concerned With Large Trucks  The average weight of the typical passenger vehicle is approximately 4,000 pounds  The average truck and trailer combination weighs approximately 80,000 pounds

Why Should I be Concerned With Large Trucks – cont.  The typical passenger vehicle takes approximately 144 feet to stop at 55mph  The typical truck and trailer combination takes approximately 192 feet to stop at 55mph

Traffic Enforcement  Traffic enforcement on passenger vehicles around commercial motor vehicles (CMV’s)  Traffic enforcement on CMV’s

What We Do  TACT – Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks  Daily traffic enforcement operations on passenger vehicles  Daily traffic enforcement operations on commercial motor vehicles

T.A.C.T. The Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks (TACT) Program is a Selective Traffic Enforcement (STEP) Program. The goal of TACT is to deter unsafe driving behaviors by passenger vehicle (PV) and commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers when they interact to share the road.

T.A.C.T. The mission of the T.A.C.T. program is to reduce CMV-related injury and fatal crashes by combining:  Education  Targeted enforcement  Evaluation

Education  Billboards along the enforcement corridors  Promotional material to be given out during traffic stops, sporting venues, car related events, etc.  Collaborate with local commercial carriers to have trucks wrapped with the T.A.C.T. logo and a safety message  Utilize social media  Coordinate with law enforcement and commercial carrier partners to arrange for additional activities in conjunction with T.A.C.T.  Incorporate T.A.C.T. into existing state safety messages

3D Billboard

Enforcement  Analysis was conducted to determine the two highest crash corridors  The T.A.C.T campaigns consisted of three waves. Each wave was five days in length  Officers are dedicated to T.A.C.T.  Specialized enforcement is used during each wave LIDAR, RADAR, Aircraft, Troopers in Trucks.

The Focus of Enforcement We determined the top five causes for accidents according to Colorado crash reports Careless Driving Exceeded Safe Speed Lane Violations Following too Closely Failed to Yield Right of Way

Evaluation  Establishment of a baseline for unsafe driving behaviors  Evaluation of data to determine a change in unsafe driving behaviors  Determine the overall effectiveness of each of the media and enforcement campaigns and which strategies were successful in getting the TACT message to the motoring public

Evaluation

Daily Enforcement Operations  Troopers conduct traffic enforcement operations on trucks and passenger vehicles around CMV’s on a daily basis. Officers use Intelligence Led Policing strategies to determine where to work to make the greatest impact on traffic safety Coordinate with local troops & other agencies  Education Individual carriers Colorado Motor Carriers Association

QUESTIONS ?? Sergeant J.D. Williams Colorado State Patrol Motor Carrier Safety