Article in Trucking Headlines
Truckers, watch out in Indiana
By Jill Dunn
Indiana State Police are cracking down on truckers on interstates 70 and 69, but for different reasons.
Since Feb. 23 on I-70, trucks heavier than 13 tons and vehicles pulling trailers have been barred from a construction zone between mile markers 83 and 89 in Indianapolis. Through traffic is routed south around I-465, and trucks making deliveries to Indianapolis businesses adjacent to I-70 must find alternate routes to their destinations on city streets.
State police at the Indianapolis post normally write 2,000 tickets a month across three counties, but since Feb. 23, those troopers have written 13,000 tickets in this 6-mile zone alone.
The number of trucks passing through this zone has been reduced from 17,000 to a few hundred per day on the busiest stretch of road in the state, said Guy Boruff, public safety director for Indiana’s transportation department.
“There are a few trucks (in the construction zone), and pretty much all are getting ticketed if an officer is available,” Boruff said.
The cost of getting a ticket goes up July 1, thanks to new legislation. Currently tickets in Indiana construction zones run $150 to $500. But beginning in July, first offenders will receive a $300 ticket, and aggressive driving in the zone will garner a $5,000 penalty, Boruff said.
The ban on large trucks in the zone will lift by Thanksgiving, when the project is expected to be completed, Boruff said.
Truckers will be delayed 5 to 10 minutes by the detour, but if heading south on I-465, will incur only about a minute more travel time.
Meanwhile, high profile truck-car fatalities on I-69 have led to stepped-up enforcement of trucks and of four-wheelers who drive dangerously around trucks.
Since June 4, troopers are cracking down on truckers guilty of moving violations such as following too closely, said Lt. Wayne Andrews of the Indiana State Police commercial vehicle enforcement division,
Since Jan. 1, troopers also have been participating in the federal Target Aggressive Cars and Trucks program, in which all vehicles are eyeballed for behavior that can cause truck-car crashes.
In a truck-car crash, “Typically, a passenger vehicle is at fault,” Andrews said.
The most common violations troopers have found among truckers are log book violations; among four-wheelers, the most common violations are unsafe movement and speeding.
Troopers also are checking seatbelts, as a new law this year requires everyone in the vehicle to be belted, Andrews added.
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