Welcome!  Thank you for visiting www.BadgeOnBoard.NV.gov webpage.  The purpose of the webpage is to educate motorists on how to share the road safely with commercial motor vehicles. 

Nationally in 2008, 4,229 people died in large truck related crashes, and in crashes between trucks and passenger cars, 70% of the fatalities were the passenger vehicle occupants.  To help reduce injuries and fatalities, Congress directed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to work together to educate motorists on how to share the road safely with commercial motor vehicles – large trucks and buses. 

56 percent of deadly crashes between large trucks and cars involve one or more unsafe driving behaviors by the passenger car driver, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Their analysis of NHTSA data shows speeding is the most common contributing factor and is involved in nearly one in three deadly crashes.   

Unsafe driving behavior near large trucks and buses include, but are not limited to:  

• Unsafe lane changes;
• Failure to signal lane changes;
• Failure to yield the right of way;
• Following too closely;
• Speeding;
• Failure to use Due Care;
• Aggressive driving (a combination of two or more behaviors).

One of the best ways for the traveling public to drive safely near large trucks and buses is to understand the No-Zone, and how to share the road with trucks.   

The No-Zones are those locations around large commercial vehicles that the truck or bus driver can not see other vehicles.   

While a truck driver may be able to see vehicles right in front of the truck, the space in front of a truck or bus is also a No-Zone, as it takes at least twice as long for a large truck to stop as a regular passenger vehicle.   

Safely sharing the road with trucks means giving them more space in front and behind, and limiting the amount of time spent driving alongside. 

Give Big Rigs Big Space 

Blindspot and No Zones - Overhead View

The diagram below provides the four Blindspot / No Zone locations, where the driver of the truck or bus cannot see the smaller vehicle.  When traveling near a truck or bus, avoid traveling in the Blindspot / No Zone.

 When changing lanes, leave additional space between you and the truck or bus.

THE NEVADA BADGE ON BOARD PROGRAM 

Nevada Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks (TACT) program is called Badge On Board. This program is high-visibility enforcement program that uses education, enforcement, and evaluation activities to reduce commercial vehicle related crashes.  The goal of the TACT program is to raise awareness among car and truck drivers about safe driving behaviors around large trucks and buses. 

 Due to the seriousness of unsafe driving near large trucks and buses, the Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) has adopted a no-tolerance policy during TACT operations.  This means that if you commit an unsafe moving violation near a large truck and NHP observes this, then you will get a ticket.  In 2008, NHP conducted TACT operations in Reno and Las Vegas, and over the course of just two days, issued over 70 moving violations.
 

 TACT News Video

Please click to play a video 

In 2009 the NHP received two FMCSA grant awards to support the TACT program in Nevada:    

A total of $242,500 in federal funds was awarded to support a public media campaign to educate drivers about both the Nevada TACT program and safe driving near large trucks.  Called “Badge On Board”, the Nevada TACT educational campaign will begin in July 2009.  The campaign will feature freeway outdoor billboards, newspaper ads, radio spots, pump toppers and other ways to get the message about safe driving near large trucks out to the general public.  No State funds are required to match the federal funds. 

A total of $263,687 in federal funds was awarded to support Badge On Board enforcement activities by the NHP, as well as to assess the effectiveness of Nevada’s TACT program as it relates to driver behavior changes.  NHP will be conducting 10-12 TACT operations in Reno and Las Vegas in 2009 and 2010.   

During these upcoming Badge On Board enforcement operations, the NHP will continue its no-tolerance policy for moving violations near large trucks.  NHP Troopers will be riding with truck drivers, watching for passenger vehicle moving violations around that truck.  When the Trooper in the truck observes an unsafe behavior, he or she will radio to a chase vehicle, and another Trooper will pull over the offender identified by the Trooper in the truck.  To remind the traveling public to drive safely around large trucks, members of the Nevada Motor Transport Association (NMTA) have agreed to place Badge On Board decals on the back of their trailers, whether a Trooper is in the truck or not.

In 2009, NHP, in conjunction with The Glenn Group and InfoSearch International, conducted a Pre-Media Campaign Survey to measure awareness and behaviors related to passenger vehicles and large trucks.  The results show that by a margin of 79% to 15%, residents of Nevada agreed that an increase in tickets to both passenger vehicle drivers and large truck drivers who drive unsafely would result in safer highways.  The survey also indicated that among those who had seen media about safe driving near large trucks, but had not changed their own behavior, the two most common reasons were that they were already driving safely, and that since they already knew about the issues they did not need to change behaviors.

NHP is working collaboratively with the University of Nevada – Reno, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s Transportation Research Group for the TACT program.  Graduate students in the Department have developed a survey methodology that documents driver’s behaviors near large trucks.  Over the course of 4 days in March 2009, UNR researchers recorded driving behavior near large trucks in Reno and Las Vegas.  After the media and announced enforcement campaigns conclude in late 2009, UNR will again document driver’s behavior near large trucks to assess any change in driving behavior.  UNR plans to continue conducting these surveys over the next several years to assess long-term behavior change.