Kentucky’s drivers may be more careful and safer these days, thanks to a public service announcement featuring Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement and Ol’ Blue, USA.

The televised highway safety message is currently airing on WBKO-TV. It can also be seen online at www.olblueusa.org.
The television spot came about as the result of collaboration between the station’s news staff and RJ Taylor, founder of Ol’ Blue, USA, a trucking industry highway safety program, based in Van Nuys, Calif.
"It couldn’t have happened without WBKO’s help," Taylor says. "They invested a lot of time and resources in this. They believe it’s important that their viewers know how to safely share the roads with all kinds of big vehicles, not just trucks, and how to respond when they see law enforcement and emergency workers rushing to help someone."
The footage was shot in May when Taylor and Ol’ Blue, USA’s centerpiece 1951 Kenworth were in Baltimore for the North American Truck Show.
Beverly Steele, an Ol’ Blue USA volunteer, began discussing the possibility of WBKO’s helping produce a PSA for the safety program. The opportunity came at the end of the North American Show in early May, when Cliff Cothern, a writer/producer at WBKO, and Tammy Martin, the station’s public relations director, agreed to help.
Taylor requested the assistance of Lt. Glynn Powers and Officer Jeff Jewell with Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement, and the TV team taped about two hours of on-highway footage.
The finished product began airing in Bowling Green in August. It will run for a couple of months, then after a break will air again late this year.
Founded in 1986, Ol' Blue, USA, a nonprofit public charity, is dedicated to educating the nation on highway safety and improving relations between law enforcement, commercial drivers and the motoring public.
During its National Safety Tour ‘Ol’ Blue’, a 1951 working truck, pulls a 53-foot "Rolling Billboard" trailer featuring sponsor's logos and those of the California Highway Patrol, Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement, Nevada Highway Patrol, and the U.S. Department of Transportation. Ol’ Blue, USA conducts simulated truck inspections at trade shows and truckstops, and also takes various programs to community events and public schools in an effort to teach safety around all large vehicles.