Suffolk unit receives safety honor

SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - The Suffolk Police Department received a big honor for its Motor Carrier program, used to deal with the influx of tractor trailers in the city.

Diana Klink, spokeswoman for the City of Suffolk said the Mobile Carrier program received the 2012 John T. Hanna Award for Traffic Safety Excellence in Hampton Roads by Drive Safe Hampton Roads. The program was created in 2009 after more and more tractor trailers began traveling on Suffolk roadways.

“With the influx of new tractor trailer traffic, the Suffolk Police Department also saw an increase in accidents and indications that Suffolk roadways were sustaining damage by overweight vehicles constantly utilizing secondary roads to bypass the scales located on Route 58,” Klink said. As a result, the program was created to enforce and educate tractor trailer drivers.

The unit will issue summonses and all money received go back to the City of Suffolk for road repairs, Klink added. Since 2009, the Suffolk Motor Carrier Unit has weighed more than 2,500 vehicles, written about 600 overweight summonses and placed 380 unsafe vehicles out of service.

The program has generated more than $671,000 in damages.

In addition, the program works to educate drivers on what is needed and expected to safely operate a tractor trailer. The unit even created a video, which can be viewed here .