State Patrol wins national award for improving large truck safety

April 10, 2008

For its success in improving commercial motor vehicle traffic safety, the Wisconsin State Patrol received the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program's (MCSAP) Leadership Award for 2008 from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The Wisconsin State Patrol won the overall leadership award for large states (those that receive more than $3 million in MCSAP funding) after being evaluated in the areas of traffic enforcement, commercial vehicle fatality rate, data quality and number of state-conducted safety compliance reviews. The MCSAP Leadership Award recognized those state agencies that performed well in all evaluated categories.

The State Patrol also received honorable mention awards for large states in the individual categories of Traffic Enforcement Improvement, Fatality Rate Improvement, and Compliance Review Improvement.

State Patrol Superintendent David Collins credits the agency's commercial motor vehicle inspectors for earning the national award. "The Wisconsin State Patrol has highly trained inspectors patrolling highways and stationed at our safety and weight enforcement facilities, also known as truck scales, who enforce commercial motor vehicle safety laws," he says. "Their mission is to remove unsafe and fatigued commercial drivers from the road and to ensure that all safety equipment on large trucks and other commercial vehicles is operating properly. The State Patrol also works with trucking and other motor carrier companies to keep them informed of safety regulations so they can take measures to prevent crashes."

A combination of rigorous law enforcement and effective traffic safety education has helped reduce large-truck crashes in Wisconsin during the last 10 years. See attached chart:

*A-injuries = incapacitating. These injuries are a subset of total injuries.
Note: 2007 data are not yet final

For more information, contact:
Lt.. Charles Lorentz
608-266-0264, charles.lorentz@dot.state.wi.us