North Carolina State Highway Patrol Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Updates

By Monica Y. Greiss, Staff Development Specialist II, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section, North Carolina State Highway Patrol, North Carolina Department of Public Safety

Safe DRIVE – Fifth Wave

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol participated in Operation DRIVE (Distracted, Reckless, Impaired, Visibility Enforcement) during the fifth wave of the program, conducted Nov. 22-24, 2021. Operation DRIVE is a highvisibility, multi-state traffic enforcement effort on interstate corridors spanning from North Carolina to Florida. This operation is designed to eliminate traffic fatalities by reducing crashes involving large trucks, buses and passenger vehicles, with the primary goal of changing unsafe driver behaviors.

For this operation, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol partnered with the South Carolina State Transport Police, Georgia Department of Public Safety’s Motor Carrier Compliance Division, Alabama Highway Patrol, Arkansas State Police, Kentucky State Police, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Virginia State Police and the Florida Highway Patrol. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol conducted 1,885 commercial motor vehicle inspections, identified 168 out-of-service vehicles and placed 90 drivers out of service. Collectively, participating states conducted 4,949 commercial motor vehicle inspections. Inspectors placed 400 drivers and 680 vehicles out of service during the fifth wave of Operation DRIVE.

CVE Seatbelt Initiative

Troop B District 9 of the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section conducted a seatbelt initiative the week of Sept. 27, 2021. Officers conducted 260 inspections, consisting of 37 Level I Inspections, 81 Level II Inspections and 142 Level III Inspections. Thirty-four citations were issued, specifically for seatbelt compliance violations. n