KY Cops/Truck Drivers Bust Aggressive Drivers

**CameronJr9** · 03-30-2006, 02:45 PM

From the Elizabethtown News-Enterprise:

HARDIN COUNTY - Forget police cruisers. These days, police are going incognito in hopes of squashing aggressive driving that often leads to crashes with semi-trucks.

Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement launched a pilot program Wednesday morning, the first of its kind in the state n in the Interstate 65 corridor south of Elizabethtown and posted officers in a moving commercial vehicle on the interstate to witness aggressive driving against commercial vehicles.

“With a commercial driver, it’s never a small accident. It’s an 80,000-pound truck,” said Vehicle Enforcement spokesman Greg Hardin.

When a car collides with an 18-wheeler, it is usually the car’s fault, police say.

Four-wheel vehicles often weave in and out of traffic, tailgate and cut off other vehicles, all to avoid getting stuck behind a commercial truck, officers said.

Officers in the semi driving on I-65 run radar and witness aggressive driving that often is reported to police, but usually not witnessed by officers.

“When you put that cruiser on the road, these things just don’t take place as often,” Hardin said. “Everybody’s really watching what they’re doing.”

After officers witness a violation from the truck, they alert other officers in cruisers along the interstate to the offending vehicle, so it can be stopped.

“Truck drivers are behind this 100 percent,” Hardin said. The truck KVE officers used Wednesday was from Lexington Cartage trucking company, which offered the use of the truck to officers.

Billy Cunningham, operations manager at the company, drove the vehicle Wednesday. Motorists often don’t realize that a large truck has numerous blind spots and cannot stop quickly, he said.

“A lot of it they just really don’t understand,” he said.

Many trucking companies have offered up the use of their vehicles to police, in hopes of making the roads safer for truck drivers.

Capt. John Ward of Kentucky State Police Post 4 in Elizabethtown helped with the program on Wednesday, as did KSP troopers.

“We get calls on aggressive driving all the time, but if they’re not doing that when the trooper observes them, there’s not anything we can do,” he said.

On Wednesday, officers said they had some difficulty finding aggressive drivers because there were a lot of marked police cruisers lining the corridor, immediately changing driving behavior. Those kinds of kinks still are being worked out.

About eight months ago, KVE commissioner Greg Howard heard about the success of an aggressive driving program in Washington state, which got the wheels turning for a similar program in Kentucky. In a three-month period of the program, Washington police wrote 3,520 citations and 1,478 warnings.

“We haven’t worked out the fine details yet,” Howard said. “Today’s kind of a trial thing for us.” Howard said that a small airplane owned by KVE would be making its maiden flight over I-65 Wednesday, also to help catch aggressive drivers.

**twistedframe** · 03-30-2006, 02:48 PM

i have no problem with this, but what gets me is when two trucks will make a moving wall, one in the left and one in the right lane and only go like 55mph

**CameronJr9** · 03-30-2006, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twistedframe

i have no problem with this, but what gets me is when two trucks will make a moving wall, one in the left and one in the right lane and only go like 55mph

Ditto that!

***Janizary*** · 03-30-2006, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twistedframe

i have no problem with this, but what gets me is when two trucks will make a moving wall, one in the left and one in the right lane and only go like 55mph

100% agree...usually right as you were about to pass one of the ass-monkey truck drivers decides to pull out and take the next 10 miles to try to pass...even worse when they finally hit a hill and realize they cannot pass and you end up stuck behind them for even longer. Crap weasels.

Zarh · 07-06-2008, 10:06 PM

I have to say, I have seen many aggresive truck drivers as well. I would have never imagined that the wrecks involing tractor-trailers would be the fault of someone else. Every time I get on the interstate it seems I have one "Sway" in and out of my lane.

03-30-2006, 02:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
CameronJr9 Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Louisville, KY Age: 28 Posts: 26,334 Back and Forth Forever iTrader: 6 / 100%	KY Cops/Truck Drivers Bust Aggressive Drivers From the Elizabethtown News-Enterprise: HARDIN COUNTY - Forget police cruisers. These days, police are going incognito in hopes of squashing aggressive driving that often leads to crashes with semi-trucks. Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement launched a pilot program Wednesday morning, the first of its kind in the state n in the Interstate 65 corridor south of Elizabethtown and posted officers in a moving commercial vehicle on the interstate to witness aggressive driving against commercial vehicles. “With a commercial driver, it’s never a small accident. It’s an 80,000-pound truck,” said Vehicle Enforcement spokesman Greg Hardin. When a car collides with an 18-wheeler, it is usually the car’s fault, police say. Four-wheel vehicles often weave in and out of traffic, tailgate and cut off other vehicles, all to avoid getting stuck behind a commercial truck, officers said. Officers in the semi driving on I-65 run radar and witness aggressive driving that often is reported to police, but usually not witnessed by officers. “When you put that cruiser on the road, these things just don’t take place as often,” Hardin said. “Everybody’s really watching what they’re doing.” After officers witness a violation from the truck, they alert other officers in cruisers along the interstate to the offending vehicle, so it can be stopped. “Truck drivers are behind this 100 percent,” Hardin said. The truck KVE officers used Wednesday was from Lexington Cartage trucking company, which offered the use of the truck to officers. Billy Cunningham, operations manager at the company, drove the vehicle Wednesday. Motorists often don’t realize that a large truck has numerous blind spots and cannot stop quickly, he said. “A lot of it they just really don’t understand,” he said. Many trucking companies have offered up the use of their vehicles to police, in hopes of making the roads safer for truck drivers. Capt. John Ward of Kentucky State Police Post 4 in Elizabethtown helped with the program on Wednesday, as did KSP troopers. “We get calls on aggressive driving all the time, but if they’re not doing that when the trooper observes them, there’s not anything we can do,” he said. On Wednesday, officers said they had some difficulty finding aggressive drivers because there were a lot of marked police cruisers lining the corridor, immediately changing driving behavior. Those kinds of kinks still are being worked out. About eight months ago, KVE commissioner Greg Howard heard about the success of an aggressive driving program in Washington state, which got the wheels turning for a similar program in Kentucky. In a three-month period of the program, Washington police wrote 3,520 citations and 1,478 warnings. “We haven’t worked out the fine details yet,” Howard said. “Today’s kind of a trial thing for us.” Howard said that a small airplane owned by KVE would be making its maiden flight over I-65 Wednesday, also to help catch aggressive drivers. __________________

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07-06-2008, 10:06 PM	#5 (permalink)
Zarh Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Southern Arkanasas Age: 24 Posts: 305 Michael iTrader: 0 / 0%	I have to say, I have seen many aggresive truck drivers as well. I would have never imagined that the wrecks involing tractor-trailers would be the fault of someone else. Every time I get on the interstate it seems I have one "Sway" in and out of my lane.