CHP cracks down on big rig drivers

By Associated Press

SAN JOSE - Responding to two truck crashes that left six dead in the past week, the California Highway Patrol began a 15-month crackdown Wednesday on big-rig drivers and motorists who don’t give truckers enough driving room.
Additional highway officers will patrol Interstate 880 from San Jose to Oakland, I-580 from Hayward to the Altamont Pass and I-80 from the Bay Bridge to Dixon in Solano County.
“Most truckers are true professionals,” CHP spokesman Wayne Ziese said. “But there are a number who are overly aggressive, and we need to get their attention. And we are going to be targeting (auto) drivers,” Ziese said, “Like those who cut truckers off at the last moment.”
The effort has been planned for months but was pushed up because of the fatalities.

The CHP will equip patrols with speedier Camaros and the black-and-white pickups used by commercial officers.
The effort will cost almost $2 million, mostly for police overtime.