As part of Brake Safety Day, the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) inspected a number of large vehicles to see if they met brake safety standards.
Lt. Richard Garrison told
Citizen Tribune that both large trucks and buses were inspected to identify brake-system and anti-lock brake system violations. Officers were also told to be on the lookout for trucks with out-of-adjustment brakes.
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Alarmingly, a good portion of the trucks they pulled over for inspections failed brake standards.
“We examined 14 big rigs, and, of that number, we took nine of them out of service,” Garrison said.
Garrison noted the dangers of a faulty brake system on large vehicles, especially in cases involving smaller cars. Cars that swerve in front of large trucks, or brake too quickly without consideration for the slow braking speed of trucks, could end up fatally colliding with a big rig that cannot stop in time.
The officer also pointed out that an empty rig will weigh 30,000 pounds, while a loaded rig weighs 80,000 pounds. A large truck has 10 brakes, Garrison explained, and “in order for it to stop in a good distance, it must have 100% of its brakes working.”
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