Dangerous or hazardous goods travel along Ontario highways every day, and over the next two days, thousands of vehicles carrying those goods will be pulled over and inspected.
It's all part of a Ministry of Transportation two-day blitz to find out who's breaking the rules.
There are strict rules for anyone transporting dangerous goods, and not following them can be expensive. The MTO kicked off its annual dangerous goods blitz today, looking for hazardous goods that aren't properly secured, labelled or documented because if one of these trucks crashes and spills its load, first responders need to know exactly what they're dealing with.
Hank Dubee with the MTO says the labelling is “so we can say they need to evacuate so many city blocks, or we need to put the fire out with something without water, if fire fighters need to wear respirators...”
Kevin Burgess is on the road everyday and he welcomes the inspection.
“I’m on the road about two-to-three hours a day driving from job sites. It's definitely a good idea,” he says. “They should have more of them actually.”
The MTO does inspect vehicles all year round, but once a year more than 300 employees are on hand at 44 locations across the province to stop, inspect and, if necessary, fine as many drivers as they can over a two day period. A typical fine is $490 dollars, but can be as much as $50,000 dollars for a first offence, or $100,000 dollars for repeat offenders.
At the MTO inspection station in King, Sgt. Gord Sadler pulled over a truck with incorrect labelling today. But since it was his first time being pulled over, Derek Kent was lucky to get off with a warning.
While this blitz is mostly targeting commercial vehicles carrying dangerous goods, the rules still apply to everyone. Brining home propane from the store and not properly securing it in your car could result in a fine.
