Too many unsafe trucks pose danger on roads and highways in Mississauga: police

Too many commercial trucks continue to travel in unsafe condition on Mississauga roads and highways and it’s posing a danger to both truck drivers and other motorists, police say.

As they launched another day-long commercial vehicle safety blitz on Tuesday in Mississauga, Peel Regional Police said the truck safety problem on roads persists.

With help from vehicle inspectors with Ontario’s transportation ministry in addition to OPP and police forces in Toronto and Halton, Peel cops pulled over a number of trucks to check for safety violations.

“Unfortunately, so far we’ve already found a number of violations, all of which could have been prevented by drivers doing a proper pre-trip inspection,” Peel police Const. Tyler Cerson, of Road Safety Services, said in a minute-long video posted to social media. “So, the message we want to get across to commercial drivers is maintain your equipment and conduct proper inspections before the start of your day.”

Police did not say how many trucks they checked on Tuesday nor how many had to be pulled off the road due to safety issues.

A similar blitz conducted one month ago saw seven of 12 trucks that were inspected taken off the road after being deemed mechanically unsafe. In addition, 25 charges were laid against operators and/or owners of the large vehicles, police said.

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Peel Regional Police Const. Tyler Cerson said too many commercial trucks take to the roads and highways in unsafe condition. (Photo: Peel Regional Police X)

As the warmer weather arrives, similar and much larger-scale truck safety blitzes will again be conducted in the coming weeks and months by Peel police, OPP and transportation ministry officials in addition to other police agencies across the GTA and southern Ontario.

Large vehicles will be checked on both city/regional roads in addition to GTA highways.

Similar safety blitzes carried out last year led to numerous charges and trucks being pulled off the roads.

The Peel police officers taking part in commercial vehicle safety blitzes are specially trained to carry out “level one” mechanical inspections that include checking under the vehicle for any safety issues.

Peel police run numerous truck inspection safety blitzes throughout the year in Mississauga and Brampton in an effort to spread the safety message and penalize offenders. In some cases, when necessary, cops take the trucks off the road.

At last count, Peel police had a team of 12 to 14 road safety officers trained and certified to inspect trucks for safety issues.

Team members look for any issues with things such as steering, brakes and tires, the body and frame of the truck, suspensions, load security and they also do visual inspections underneath the vehicles.

An inspector with Ontario’s transportation ministry checks a truck during a May commercial vehicle safety enforcement blitz in Mississauga and Brampton. (Photo: Peel Regional Police)

(Cover photo of earlier truck safety blitz: Peel Regional Police)