Vehicles carrying farm workers are being encouraged to stop at a voluntary truck inspection drill launched by the B.C. Transportation Ministry on Friday.
The "no ticket zone" inspection is intended to educate all commercial vehicle drivers licensed to transport farm workers about safety standards.
The drill takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. near the Alex Fraser Bridge at the Nordel Inspection Station in Delta.
Inspectors will check for proper mechanics, including steering, brakes and signal lights, as well as proper tires, seats and seat belts on any vehicles commercially licensed to carry workers.
Drivers will be given pre-trip requirements such as the legal number of passengers and driver's licence requirements.
"Partially (it's) an education opportunity, to have the operators be able to ask questions and see some of the procedures they should follow when they do their pre-trip inspections," said Jeff Knight, spokesperson for the ministry.
"It's really the start of the farm season now. There will be a lot more of these vehicles on the road because there is more activity now."
In March 2007, a passenger van crash in Abbotsford left three farm workers dead and fourteen others injured.
The incident triggered criticism of passenger vans carrying workers to and from farms in southwestern B.C., and a WorkSafeBC report found the vehicle had poor tires and too few seatbelts for the number of passengers.
More than 22,000 roadside inspections were carried out by the ministry's Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement Branch in 2007.
