Nice example of unsafe equipment found at a traffic stop in Pittsburgh
Posted on June 3, 2007
Filed Under IN THE NEWS
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07151/790407-53.stm
Excerpt from the article: “A Pittsburgh police officer on a safety enforcement patrol yesterday morning found an improperly hooked-up trailer and six undocumented workers. Officer Tom Jacques was near the Parkway West around 7 a.m. when he heard a chain dragging from a pickup truck pulling a trailer with a spool of electrical conduit. He pulled over the truck at the Route 51 exit of the inbound Parkway West near the Fort Pitt Tunnel and discovered the hitch was improperly secured.
“That’s the kind of thing that happens. Vehicles break away and you have a thousand-pound missile coming down the highway,” Officer Jacques said. “This is exactly what happened with the chipper accident.” The officer was referring to the April 13, 2006, accident on Route 8 in which Spencer Morrison of Cranberry and two of his triplet children were killed when a wood chipper broke away from inadequate moorings and struck their minivan. Bradley Demetras pleaded guilty to causing the accident by not securely fastening the trailer that broke away and last week was sentenced to nine to 18 months in jail.
Are you sure that your vehicles are being properly maintained, or are you using junk like that pictured here? Of course, the writer of the article neglects to mention who the contractor is, only that they were working for Verizon. You would think that large reputable companies would screen their contractors a little more closely. As for the ‘undocumented’ workers (read: illegal), I’m sure they are back at work today, driving unsafe equipment that Americans refuse to do.
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Eric Arnold is a Former Enforcement Agent with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and a leading expert on USDOT compliance for small businesses. Do you have a question for Eric Arnold? Email him at eric@arnoldsafety.com.
Arnold Safety simplifies D.O.T. Compliance for commercial vehicle operators. Get Eric Arnold’s USDOT Compliance Guide, DVD, & Regulations at ArnoldSafety.Com.
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