GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Wisconsin State Patrol troopers are teaming up with truckers to better spot dangerous driving behaviors.
On Thursday, the annual Trooper in a Truck initiative conducted enforcement in the Green Bay area. The program made stops in Hudson, Waukesha and Madison earlier this week and will finish Friday in Wausau.
Wisconsin State Patrol troopers are teaming up with truckers to better spot dangerous driving behaviors. (WLUK)
By riding along with semi-truck and bus drivers, WSP troopers can get a higher vantage point, making it easier for them to see what motorists and vehicles are doing down below. The elevated point of view allows them to better enforce traffic laws.
Kim Conradt is the safety programs coordinator with the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association, which partners with the Wisconsin State Patrol to bring the Trooper in a Truck initiative to life.
“Some of my road team captains came to me about three years ago and they said every day that they’re up in the truck, they can see the drivers and see what they’re doing down below. Texting, watching Netflix, putting on makeup,” Conradt explained.
It’s really distracted driving and it causes a lot of accidents. So they said, why can’t we partner with the troopers and get them in the truck and help us make your family get home safe, our family get home safe, everybody be safe on the road.
Conradt said the goal of Trooper in a Truck is to eliminate distracted driving and help reduce the number of crashes involving commercial motor vehicles (CMVs).
“We don’t want to write tickets. We want to educate,” Conradt said. “So get your hands at 10-and-2, put your seatbelt on and get that phone down. There’s nothing that’s more important than you getting home alive.”
Conradt added that partner companies donate their trucks and drivers, so there is no extra cost to the state of Wisconsin to conduct Trooper in a Truck enforcement.
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