The OPP are taking to the sky to find unsafe commercial trucks and distracted truck drivers.
As part of a five day blitz, provincial police are using a helicopter and infrared technology. Const. Jack Harrison is one of the officers who are keeping an eye out from high above local highways.
“We can have a point of view that you can't see on the ground, plus we can transition from one truck to the next very quickly."
Harrison can zoom in close enough to spot whether a truck has any mechanical issues. From his vantage point, he can also see if someone is texting or not wearing a seatbelt.
“A driver doing too much stuff in the cab when they should be focusing on the road this allows us to focus right in on that driver."
This allows officers in the chopper to send a signal to officers on the ground to stop that vehicle.
"I’ll be able to explain that's the vehicle that's passing you now. I'm going to be explaining all my grounds and they’re going to do their own ground inspection."
Ground inspections that are carried out by Const. Calvin Noble on Friday found all sorts of issues.
"We’ve got brakes out of adjustment, flat tires, low tire treads, a lot of oversized vehicles that are on the road in contravention of their permits," says Noble.
The blitz comes amid some startling numbers involving commercial vehicles.
"This year alone we have investigated over 6,100 collisions involving commercial motor vehicles. In 63 of those, 83 people have lost their lives," says OPP Sgt. Peter Leon.
However, some truck drivers say it's not always their fault.
"We as truck drivers are being portrayed in a really negative light; that everything, all the accidents on the road, are our fault, but they don't take into consideration the drivers of the cars that are cutting us off," says truck driver Tabatha Mitchell.
The OPP say different charges and fines depend on the case of the truck in question.
Under the Highway Traffic Act, the OPP have the authority to remove vehicles from the highway or suspend them until repairs are made.
