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Published on Thursday, May 13, 2004
in the ABC7 News Online
COLLIER COUNTY- The Florida Highway Patrol is putting every available trooper on local highways to slow down truckers and save lives. Operation Safe Ride started Thursday and aggressive drivers are already feeling the pinch.
During the three hour operation, big rigs weren't the only vehicles pulled over. Troopers caught more than 50 speeders and will be out again Friday.
During his three years as a truck driver Jerry Bell has seen just about everything, but there is something he is always looking out for - cars, pickup trucks and SUV's.
"They don't give us no respect," said Bell.
The feeling is mutual.
Dennis McCarthy says truckers act like they own the road.
"What they do is tailgate. They want you to speed because they want to speed and they are too lazy to get in the passing lane," said McCarthy.
Troopers say that is a recipe for disaster.
"You're talking about 80,000 pounds going down the road at 80 plus miles per hour and they are tail gating. They can't stop," said FHP trooper Joe Joyce.
Troopers hope to stop them before they cause an accident. They watched from the ground and from the air.
In 2002 big rigs were involved in more than 8,000 wrecks in Florida killing 310 people.
Bell doesn't want to become a statistic so he drives defensively. He hopes other drivers, whether they are in cars or trucks, will do the same.
Bell says truckers are good about warning each other about crackdown, which means troopers probably won't write as many tickets. But the FHP says as long as the big rigs slow down they have accomplished their mission.
Operation Safe Ride will end Friday.
Last month troopers targeted aggressive drivers and wrote more than 6,000 tickets statewide. Florida started the program after hearing hundreds of complaints about aggressive drivers weaving, tailgating and speeding. Any time you see an aggressive driver, just call *FHP.