Maine CMV troopers turn the tables by targeting passenger car violations near semi trucks during blitzes
The Maine State Police (MSP) is highlighting a new traffic safety initiative that puts commercial motor vehicle (CMV) troopers in a different role: focusing enforcement on passenger vehicle drivers who commit violations while operating near semi trucks.
According to MSP, the goal is straightforward: improve overall highway safety by addressing unsafe driving behavior around large trucks.
Rather than concentrating only on truck compliance issues, this approach shifts attention to the passenger vehicles that may be creating risk in close proximity to CMVs. MSP emphasized that passenger vehicles have been involved in crashes and that violations around trucks can contribute to preventable incidents.
The initiative is intended to reduce those preventable crashes by targeting the behaviors that tend to create trouble around big rigs, and by improving day-to-day interactions between cars and trucks. As MSP framed it, focusing on vehicles violating traffic laws around trucks is one way Maine hopes to reduce preventable crashes and improve interactions between cars and trucks.
For professional drivers, the broader context is familiar: trucks operate with longer stopping distances, larger blind spots, and less room for evasive maneuvers. When passenger vehicles violate traffic laws near semis, the consequences can escalate quickly, even when the truck driver is doing everything by the book.
MSP’s message with this initiative is that safer highways depend on all drivers—not only the ones behind the wheel of commercial equipment.