Video: MDOT Exclusive Behind the Scenes Presentation

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – If you need help on the highway your first call may be to the highway patrol, but there are another group of officers making sure the state’s roads are safe, The Mississippi Department of Transportation.

We visited with the Mississippi Department of Transportation to get a glimpse of what exactly it is they do.

“We get asked a lot are we Highway Patrol or State Troopers. No, we’re state law enforcement officers and we’re trying to take care of mainly everybody on the road,” Sargent Brandon Johnson said.

MDOT’s biggest objective is to maximize taxpayers dollars by keeping the roads safe for drivers.

Northern District Transportation Commissioner Mike Tagert said road safety is their number one priority.

“We want exactly what the public wants, which is to protect and preserve that system as much as possible, and the enforcement officers that’s here today are the ones who actually do that,” Tagert said.

The officers inspect buses and trucks, and check hazard materials among other inspections.

MDOT also inspect the drivers of these commercial vehicles to make sure the driver qualifications are up to date as well.

“Everything that he’s supposed to have like his health and fitness card, things like that which helps keep him safe while driving the truck,” Major Thomas Dollar said.

“It’s all for the safety of the general public, making sure that everybody running up the road is safe and that’s pretty much what our whole goal is,” Johnson said.

This is the second year MDOT has hosted this event, and they plan to continue hosting this event every summer in different cities throughout the state.