OTTAWA, ON – Enforcement teams completed 7,698 inspections during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Brake Safety Day on September 7, placing 14% of vehicles out of service for brake-related violations.

Of those inspections, 1,337 were completed in Canada, with the rest in the U.S. Twenty-two percent of inspected vehicles were placed out of service when all vehicle violations were considered.

Many jurisdictions also surveyed compliance with anti-lock braking systems (ABS), counting violations when malfunction lamps didn’t work or stayed on – indicating a fault. Of the 5,456 inspected air-braked power units with ABS, 11% had related violations. Trailers fared a little worse, with 14% of the 3,749 trailers showing an ABS violation.

“Brake-related violations are the largest percentage of all out-of-service violations cited during roadside inspections,” said alliance president Capt. Christopher Turner of the Kansas Highway Patrol. “Our goal is to reduce the number of crashes caused by faulty braking systems, by conducting roadside inspections, educating drivers, mechanics, owner-operators and others on the importance of proper brake inspection and maintenance.”

Brake Safety Day is part of alliance’s Operation Air Brake Program in partnership with the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). More than 3.4 million brakes have been inspected since the program’s inception in 1998.