The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Brake Safety Week is scheduled for August 21-27, 2022. Enforcement officials will inspect commercial motor vehicles throughout the week. Vehicles found to have critical out-of-service brake violations, or other critical vehicle out-of-service inspection item violations, will be restricted from traveling until those violations are corrected. Vehicles that pass eligible inspections may receive a CVSA Password-Inspection decal.
Brake Safety Week is part of law enforcement’s effort to reduce brake-related crashes by conducting roadside inspections and identifying and removing unsafe commercial motor vehicles from roadways. Checking brake system components is always part of the roadside inspection process.
What Inspectors Are looking For
During the brake portion of a vehicle inspection, inspectors will look for missing, non-functioning, loose, contaminated or cracked parts on the brake system, and non-manufactured holes (such as rust holes and holes created by rubbing or friction) and broken springs in the spring brake housing section of the parking brake.
During the 2021 inspection and enforcement initiative, brake system and brake adjustment violations accounted for 38.9 percent of all out-of-service conditions. That’s more than any other vehicle violation category.
“Poorly maintained brake systems can reduce the braking capacity and stopping distance of large trucks and motorcoaches, which poses a serious risk to driver and public safety,” said CVSA President Capt. John Broers with the South Dakota Highway Patrol. “In those split-second emergency situations, the proper functionality of the brake systems on large commercial motor vehicles is crucial.”
Partnership with FMCSA
Brake Safety Week is part of CVSA’s Operation Airbrake program, in partnership with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators.
In addition to CVSA's Brake Safety Week, August is also Brake Safety Awareness month. Along with inspections and enforcement, law enforcement agencies engage in outreach and awareness efforts to educate drivers, motor carriers, mechanics, owner-operators, and others on the importance of proper brake maintenance, operation, and performance.
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