The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) Special Transportation Service (STS) and Bus Operations Division (BOD) received top honors from the North Carolina Public Transportation Association (NCPTA) as safest transit systems in the state.

STS received an award for the safest Urban Dial-A-Ride system in the state for the fifth consecutive year. BOD received its seventh award as the Safest Large Bus System in the State.

Last year CATS operators drove over 15 million miles and handled over 26 million rides, while maintaining a 0.44 preventable accident rate per 100,000 miles.

“We are very committed to safety and these awards are a great indicator that our staff is giving its best to ensure the safety of our customers,” said CATS CEO Carolyn Flowers.

SALISBURY - It's the coldest week of the winter, so far, and there's a chance of a wintry mix in the area later in the week.  So is your car ready to handle cold weather?

In a past issue the magazine Popular Mechanics ran a story dedicated to debunking common myths about cars and cold weather.  From that article, here's a look at five of these myths:

1) "Will carrying sandbags in your trunk really improve traction?"

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol’s Motor Carrier Enforcement division will begin implementation of a new program for intrastate commercial motor vehicles that they say is designed to make state roads and highways safer.

The Motor Carrier Registration program will require all intrastate motor carriers to obtain an Intrastate USDOT number, then display that number on all of their commercial vehicles.

There is no cost to the companies to obtain the numbers.

“This is not a new law,” stated First Sergeant Jeff Gordon.  “This was adopted by North Carolina when the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations were adopted.”

 At that time, officials say, the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) did not have the technology to process intrastate numbers. That technology is now in place and the law will be enforced.

Registering commercial vehicles through the USDOT Systems is one of the components of a quality program that