A semi truck’s rear brakes caught fire just after a Brake Safety Week inspection at the Carson Weigh Station off I-95 in Petersburg, Virginia on Monday, August 25.
The inspection: Officers with the Virginia DMV were doing checks in support of Brake Safety Week, which runs August 24–30.
- During the inspection blitz, 24 citations were handed out at the station, including 19 for brake problems.
- Soon after going through the process, one truck’s rear brakes ended up catching fire, showing how quickly a bad brake can turn into a real problem.
What’s Brake Safety Week? Each year, law enforcement across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada inspect commercial vehicles and talk to drivers and carriers about keeping brakes in good shape. This year’s big focus is on drums and rotors, which can fail and cause parts to fly off a rig and hit others, according to CVSA.
- If a truck is found with serious brake issues, it gets taken off the road until it’s fixed.
- Officials gather data during the week and make results public later on.
Brake Safety Week 2025 continues through August 30 with extra attention on checking brakes and spreading the word about brake troubles on big trucks.