Abstract

Commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers who engage in federally prohibited activities such as not wearing safety belts, using hand-held mobile phones, or texting while driving endanger themselves and imperil the well-being of everyone who occupies the surrounding roadway environment. Unfortunately, conventional CMV inspection routines fail to detect many of these violations because inspectors have difficulty obtaining a clear view of truck cab interiors from inspection facilities. Recognizing it is critical to improve enforcement of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, this project evaluated the performance of a Driver Focus Camera System (DFCS) at an inspection facility on Interstate 75 northbound in Laurel County, Kentucky. This camera system captures high-resolution images of truck cab interiors and lets Kentucky State Police – Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (KSP-CVE) officers and inspectors quickly determine if a driver is not wearing a safety belt or handling a mobile phone. If they detect a violation, they can direct a vehicle to stop and conduct an inspection. To evaluate if the DFCS improved detection of violations, researchers compared the number of violations recorded over a three-year period leading up to camera installation (2018 – 2020) to the number of violations in the year following installation (2022). In the three years prior to DFCS implementation, just 10 safety belt use, phone use, and texting violations were spotted. In the year following implementation, this jumped to 446, with 417 violations being related to safety belt use. The DFCS also helped inspectors spot violations related to license restrictions, reckless driving, and careless driving. Based on the results of this pilot study, broader adoption of DFCS at inspection facilities across Kentucky is warranted.

Report Date

10-2024

Report Number

KTC-25-10

Digital Object Identifier

https://doi.org/10.13023/ktc.rr.2025.10

Download

Share

COinS