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w w w .insidehalton.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, O ctober 1 3, 2 0 1 7 | 6 EDITORIAL | OPINION Roadworthy "Imagine a big javelin or spear bouncing down the roadway that's going to impale another car." This is the image Halton Regional Police Traffic Services Unit Sgt. Ryan Snow asks us to envision in our p.4 story. Imagine being in that vehicle and it is the type of horror situation, and likely ensuing tragic results, that can occur when commercial vehicles are travelling our highways and byways when they are not roadworthy. As much as speeding and distracted driving can kill, so, too, can irresponsible maintenance of commercial vehicles. We are happy to hear that in addition to traffic blitzes in school zones, car seat clinics and seasonal RIDE spotchecks, our local police are involved in a broad effort, like that which occurred last week in Halton, to get the word out about commercial vehicle safety, too. Local police and others know road safety has been noted as a top priority for Halton residents. According to Snow, last week's initiative involved a total of 70 inspectors and officers from eight police agencies, in addition to the provincial ministries of hnance, environment and transport. They aimed to inspect 500 vehicles in 48 hours. It saw 477 vehicles inspected over a two-day period Oct. 4 and 5. Of those vehicles, 156 were taken out of service, 331 charges were laid and 24 sets of licence plates seized. The results represented a 33 per cent failure rate. "Based on inspection metric, this year was our busiest year yet conducting this blitz," said Snow. "Local security, mechanical defects, overweight vehicles, failing to complete inspections and documentary issues were all encountered and led to signihcant charges being laid." "We want to ensure truck drivers and truck operators recognize they have a massive responsibility to ensure their operations are safe," said Snow. From overloaded trucks to exposed steel belting on tires and even loose drive shafts, the officers involved have seen it all. "That drive shaft that weighs hundreds of pounds could detach from the vehicle and come out on the roadway," said Snow before alluding to the javelin or spear imagery. The officers checked for load security, such as ensuring that any construction equipment being transported by a truck was properly chained down. If not, that 10,000-pound excavator might become a huge hazard in an accident that could crush the truck's cab and potentially kill the driver, or harm other motorists in the area, said Snow. The onus is on the operator of the vehicle and the owner of the truck to conduct inspections. While hnes range from $110 to over $500, trucks can be taken off the road and drivers can face penalties that will impact their livelihood. And while it can potentially have a lot of ripple effects when you operate a vehicle that's unsafe, according to Snow, the bigger issue is safety. It's working, albeit perhaps slowly. The blitz is a Halton police annual initiative that kicked off in 2004. In 2016, it saw 470 trucks inspected over a two-day period. Of those, 179 were taken out of service -- a 38 per cent failure rate. No one wants to peer across their steering wheel at that `big javelin or spear, or worse. ABOUT US The Oakville Beaver, published every Thursday and Friday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 100 community publications across Ontario. View our digital edition online at: Insidehalton.com under Print Editions found in the footer. ·* m etro lan d m ed ia · * Connected to your community* The Oakville Beaver is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the newspaper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca nnc Aocna News M e d ia C anada I M edias d 'ln fo C anada Loca M edia a s s o c ia t io n lnsideHalton.com feei editor@oakvillebeaver.com E @InsideHalton insidehalton.com |__ | @oakvillebeaver Letter to the Editor We could help endangered monarch by planting milkweed Re: Journey into Fail, front page photo/caption, Oakville Beava' Friday, Oct. 6,201 7 f was glad to see the recent front page fea ture about Ted Ruddy of Waters Edge Drive and his cultivation of milkweed. I think, however, that this feature could have resonated more if it was mentioned that the monarch butterfly is an endangered species, ever more so that this year's hur ricanes damaged its natural habitat in the United States, and also that the milkweed, mostly the local variety seen in abundance spotted a few plants of the tropical milk weed species, as shown on the front page photo, out there in Bronte Creek, and now I have a good guess where they likely come from. No danger, though, that it becomes an invasive species. Perhaps more people would consider growing our frost-resistant local variety of milkweed on their property in Bronte Creek, is this butterfly's only nat ural food and reproduction site in Ontario. On a side note, earlier this summer I Alexander Kraev, biologist, Oakville r g o b b l e ? ) Go b b l e g go o bble e^ F" Go b b l e OKAY, __ I PROMISE THIS THANKSGIVING Pud by Steve Nease WHO WE ARE ^ ----------- ^ THE LAST OF THE LEFTO V ER S/ ` im * ^ CONTACT US The Oakville Beaver 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 Phone 905-845-3824 / Fax 905-337-5568 Classified 1-800-263-6480 Digital/Flyers/Retail Advertising 289-293-0624 Real Estate/Homefinder.ca Advertising Suzanne Trickey / 289-293-0677 / strickey@oakvillebeaver.com Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 200 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. 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