Texas steps up to the plate in the **nationwide push** for safer commercial vehicles like buses, 18-wheelers, and trucks of all types. Did you know vehicles for commercial use clock in millions of miles daily across the USA? That’s a lot of rubber hitting the road! Texas is buzzing with changes aimed at cutting accidents and **boosting safety** on highways. Imagine big rigs moving as smoothly as a well-oiled machine, reducing hiccups and saving more than just a few bucks on damages. Curious to learn how these changes will make journeys **safer** and **smarter**?

The nationwide crackdown is called Roadcheck 2012, a three-day nationwide enforcement aimed at commercial vehicles with serious safety violations. The move was likely prompted by a series of commercial bus crashes this past year involving charter bus companies across the nation. Several people were killed and an investigation discovered that each of these companies had serious safety violations on record but continued to operate their vehicle.

Texas Department of Public Safety is trying to keep their roads safe by enforcing existing vehicle safety laws in an effort to prevent similar deadly collisions in their state. Defensive driving simply is not enough, especially if your vehicle is rolling with a number of serious safety problems.

“Roadcheck 2012 and efforts like DPS’ Operation Texas Thunder underscore our commitment to ensuring commercial vehicles and their drivers are complying with our laws and regulations so that we can make our roads safer for all drivers,” said DPS Director Steven McCraw. “It is also important to remember that most 18-wheeler and bus wrecks are actually caused by passenger vehicles, so Texas drivers can do their part to keep our roads safe by using extra caution when driving near commercial vehicles.”

During Roadcheck 2012, specially trained troopers and civilian personnel will inspect commercial vehicles for equipment violations involving brakes, tires, lights and loading standards. Troopers will check driver licenses and log books, which document how long the driver has been on the road. In conjunction with these efforts, DPS will also be on the lookout for aggressive passenger vehicle drivers, the main cause of commercial vehicle crashes.