The next time you see a semi, check who is riding shotgun. It may be a Nebraska State Trooper. The State Patrol and the Nebraska Trucking Association recently started a new collaborative safety project called "Trooper in a Truck".
Lt. Kurt Von Minden tells NewsRadio 1110 KFAB that troopers will be riding with truck drivers looking for traffic violations and unsafe drivers. He says, "Truckers are in a unique position to see behaviors that we just can't observe because of the patrol cars we are in. Very rarely do we get to catch people in the act - so to speak. We wanted to reach out to the industry to collaborate on this. The professional drivers that go up and down the road everyday want the same thing we want. They want a safer Nebraska and they are more than willing to help out. We've gotten a good response from them."
This runs similar to an enforcement effort with an aircraft. A trooper rides along with a truck driver and radios other troopers in patrol cars when they see a problem. Troopers in marked units can then go after the offender.
The state patrol launched the first project in Omaha a few weeks ago. Lt. Von Minden says that was a learning operation but they did issue several violations and it gave them ideas how to operate as they move forward. He says they are planning more troopers in trucks soon, likely on I-80 between Omaha and Lincoln.