Commercial vehicle inspections promote road safety: EPS, Sheriffs – Edmonton Journal

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The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) placed 113 commercial vehicles out of service and towed another 17 due to their dangerous condition during a three-day commercial vehicle inspection operation earlier this month.

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From May 10 to 12, police inspected 263 commercial vehicles were inspected and 733 violations were found. Inspections include mechanical issues and driver violations.

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Sgt. Dave Beattie, in charge of the EPS commercial vehicle investigation, has been a police officer for nearly 25 years and said conducting inspections and keeping dangerous commercial vehicles off the road can stop a highway collision before it happens. He added the number of vehicles placed out of service during those three days are indicative of the local industry, not the industry as a whole.

“If anything sticks in my mind, it’s that knocking on someone’s door at 3 o’clock in the morning and them seeing the uniform and their face drops because they know why you’re there,” said Beattie.

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“Every time you find a vehicle and there’s something wrong with it that’s significantly dangerous to the public, you think to yourself that’s one less visit that a police officer doesn’t have to make.”

Beattie said these inspections are not about enforcement, it’s about making sure Alberta roads are safe for all road users. If not, Beattie said collisions resulting in serious injuries or even fatalities could occur.

On Oct. 28, 2020, an eight-wheel converter dolly split off a semi-truck and slammed into a minivan, killing the 36-year-old Edmonton teacher driving the vehicle. Meghan Weis, a teacher with Edmonton Catholic Schools, was pronounced dead at the scene. Rene Transport Ltd. in Nisku was hit with a $24,000 fine after the crash for not maintaining the equipment or safety system in good working order as laid out in the Traffic Safety Act.

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Aside from the vehicle inspections, Beattie said the EPS unit also investigates criminal offences in relation to commercial vehicles, which could include commercial vehicles used in the commission of offences, or stolen commercial vehicles.

Six officers work under Beattie — they are usually specifically looking for things that are wrong with vehicles and won’t pull over just any vehicle, each stop resulting in an enforcement or safety education, he said.

From May 17 to 19, the Sheriff Highway Patrol had their three-day annual commercial vehicle inspection operation, called Roadcheck. The program is carried out by agencies belonging to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

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Sgt. Brian Davyduke with the Sheriff Highway Patrol said Alberta inspection sites would see hundreds of vehicles throughout the three-day event.

“I’m personally working out of the Whitecourt vehicle inspection station site today and the last two days, so we’ve put various vehicles out of service,” said Davyduke.

“Some have had violations that don’t take them off the road. They’re not serious enough that they would pose a risk, so we wouldn’t be removing them from the highway. And then there’s some that have absolutely no violations that would pass the inspection.”

In 2021, the Sheriff Highway Patrol conducted 457 vehicle inspections over a three-day.

“The checks that we’re doing, we’re checking a large number of vehicles in a short period of time. We’re getting that exposure out there and letting people know the importance of road safety, and that commercial vehicles and their drivers need to be safe on the highways to prevent collisions from occurring,” he said.

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