Another multi-agency joint enforcement effort targeting commercial vehicles appears to show a startling percentage of vehicle owners and operators simply aren’t getting the message regarding vehicle condition and safety.

The Integrated Road Safety Unit (IRSU), West Vancouver Police and Bylaw Enforcement Officers, and the Provincial Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement Branch (CVSE) staged the latest in an ongoing series of surprise inspections Wednesday September 10, 2008.

A total of 30 vehicles were checked during a surprise 6 hour enforcement blitz by 10 officers from the participating agencies.

A staggering 43 percent of vehicles (13 of 30 vehicles)  failed inspection and were ordered off the road for repairs. Officers served a total of 23 provincial violation tickets for various offences as well as 26 bylaw tickets.

“I’m extremely disappointed in the results today," says WVPD Traffic Section Sergeant Tim Kravjanski, "We had seen a decrease this year in the failure rate but having a marked increase such as today will only focus our efforts to ensure all commercial drivers are inspecting their vehicles. Today we saw trucks with loose nuts on tires, overloaded vehicles, trucks without brake fluid, trucks with bald tires and more. These types of defects should be picked up during a routine pre-trip inspection.”

Kravjanski says the current system clearly isn't a deterrent to these drivers and police need new tools to deal with this. Kravjanski notes Police in BC are working with the Provincial Government to implement appropriate changes.

The regular joint enforcement efforts were launched late last year and Kravjanski says the campaign must continue to ensure safety of all people who share the road with commercial vehicles.