Vehicle inspection stickers: ‘The law is the law,’ Sault Police Chief says

Sault Ste. Marie Police Services board members have told Sault Police more advance notice and education regarding enforcement of laws for vehicles hauling trailers should have been given to Sault motorists.

A video in which Sault Police Constable Sonny Spina explained the need for vehicles and trailers to have an annual inspection was released on social media Wednesday after questions arose from surprised Saultites with trailers during a recent traffic clampdown. 

Board member Marchy Bruni, a Ward 5 City Councillor speaking at Thursday’s Police Services board regular monthly meeting, said “the mayor has received many phone calls, as have several councillors including myself, phone calls and emails, regarding this. I guess nobody was aware of this annual safety inspection.”

“As a board member I would say yes, the advertising and promoting of it did not happen until the last minute. I did see Mr. Spina’s Facebook presentation (video) and it was very good, I just wish it was out there maybe two or three months ago, just like a RIDE program, I see Police Services advertising there will be a RIDE program (ahead of time)…I know it’s the law but can there be a grace period to make sure everybody is informed about this?” Bruni said.  

While acknowledging the importance of traffic law enforcement, board member John Bruno added “knowing something is going to happen would be a good heads up, for people to know.”

“Obviously it’s an issue in our community right now…we know there’s been enforcement done in the community and we certainly are aware that wasn’t necessarily well received within the community,” said Robert Keetch, Sault Police chief, in reply to the board.

Keetch acknowledged greater notice could have been put out by Sault Police regarding laws concerning vehicles hauling trailers.

“Could we have done a public service campaign to educate the community in relation to the requirements? We did it yesterday (through Spina’s video), could we have done it earlier? Yes, I would say we could have.”

“We can learn,” Keetch said.

“But, at the end of the day, the law is the law. We don’t write the law, we enforce the law. This law’s been in effect for a considerable amount of time and it is a safety issue in our community,” Keetch said.

“We see trailers that are highly overloaded, highly overweight, do not have effective braking systems and that poses a risk to our community. We had a fatal last year at Allens Side Road and Third Line that involved an overloaded trailer…in southern Ontario it’s a huge issue in regard to runaway trailers.”

Speaking to reporters, Spina said “a vehicle over 4,500 kilograms needs an annual inspection…any vehicle or vehicle/trailer combination over 4,500 kilograms needs to have an annual inspection for all the usual safety reasons.”

Spina said RVs, along with what he described as ‘toy haulers’ (a vehicle in which the front half or more is living space, the rear space reserved to hold items such as 4 wheelers) and trailers less than 2,800 kilograms are exempt.

A trailer over 4,500 kilograms requires the operator to get a Class A licence, Spina said.

“These vehicles are so heavy, things wear out faster on them, they  just do so naturally, and they need to be inspected every year to ensure they’re safe.”

Annual inspection stickers for Sault motorists with heavy vehicles and/or trailers can be obtained through many local garages, Spina said.

A group of Sault Police officers were assigned, in Jan. 2017, to a beefed up traffic unit aimed at improving road safety, that initiative now winding down.

Part of that program involved training an officer on the rules regarding vehicles and trailers.

“They’ve written about 2,000 tickets focusing on distracted driving, intersections including the Gore and Albert Street intersection, speeding, aggressive driving, seatbelts, anything we felt impacted road safety in our community,” Keetch said.

“For years we’ve been trying to get training on commercial vehicle regulation and enforcement through the Ministry and the OPP. We were afforded that training and…one officer came back and he has been enforcing legislation that’s been in effect for a number of years with regard to trailers and vehicles and weight restrictions and the requirements for inspections.”

Keetch said a press release will be issued regarding the number of traffic violations spotted by the traffic unit in its latest campaign.

In terms of numbers, Deputy Chief Sean Sparling told the board “there were about 1,800 charges they laid, of which about 150 were in relation to trailers.”