This year’s Brake Safety Week, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual nationwide brake inspection event, saw 13.5% of 34,320 vehicles placed out of service for critical brake-related violations identified during roadside inspections.

On a more positive note, 86.5% of vehicles inspected from Sept. 15-21, 2019, did not have any critical brake-related inspection item violations. The total number of vehicles placed out of service was also down from more than 5,000 in last year’s event to just 4,626, though the number of inspections last year was higher as well.

For 2019, 60 jurisdictions in Canada and the U.S. participated in the Brake Safety Week event, with 31,864 roadside inspections taking place in the U.S. alone. In Canada, 11 jurisdictions conducted 2,456 roadside inspections and 282, or 11.5% were placed out of service.

"Inspectors conduct more than 4 million roadside inspections every year and checking brake components is just one element of the inspection procedure inspectors perform on commercial motor vehicles every day," said CVSA President Sgt. John Samis with the Delaware State Police. "This inspection and enforcement event reminds drivers and motor carriers of the importance of properly functioning brakes and spotlights the work done by inspectors, motor carriers and drivers every day to keep our roadways safe by ensuring vehicles are in appropriate working condition."

As part of this year’s Brake Safety Week, inspectors also collected and reported data on brake hoses/tubing.

• 2,567 units had chafed rubber hose violations.

• 1,347 units had chafed thermoplastic hose violations.

• 2,704 violations of § 393.45 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and Canadian equivalent violations included chafed rubber hoses.

• There were 1,683 violations of § 393.45 of the FMCSRs and Canadian equivalent violations that included kinked thermoplastic hoses.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, highway crash fatality data for 2018, there was a 2.4% decline in overall fatalities, the second consecutive year of reduced crash fatalities. However, for 2018, large-truck related fatalities increased by 0.9%.

"While we applaud the decrease in the overall number of fatalities on our roadways last year, we’re alarmed by the increase in the number of large-truck-related fatalities," said Sgt. Samis. "CVSA conducts high-profile, high-visibility enforcement events, such as Brake Safety Week, to reduce the number of fatalities occurring on our roadways. Roadway safety is our number one priority and we will continue our efforts to improve brake safety throughout North America."