In 2025, there were 310 reported bridge strikes in New York State, usually involving commercial and large truck operators who failed to know or recognize their vehicle’s height or ignored warning signs. Bridge strikes are most likely to occur on roadways with low-clearance railroad bridges, and on New York State Parkways predominantly in the Lower Hudson Valley, New York City, and Long Island. The New York State Parkway system contains numerous low-clearance stone arch bridges that cannot accommodate commercial traffic. For that reason, commercial trucks are banned from driving on the parkways.

The New York State Department of Transportation documented 122 bridge strikes in 2025 and 56 thus far in 2026 along New York State parkways in the Hudson Valley. All of the bridge strikes in 2025 and thus far in 2026 were in Westchester County, according to NYSDOT. As part of this week’s campaign, State Troopers will focus active patrols in key areas across the state where there have been documented bridge strikes by large commercial vehicles. Variable Message Signs throughout the state will be displaying “Check Your Height, Know It’s Right” messaging throughout the campaign.

Truck operators should use commercial-grade GPS devices and applications for navigating along New York’s roads since consumer-grade GPS and cell phone mapping applications do not necessarily take low-clearance bridges and overpasses into account when calculating travel directions. The New York State 511NY website includes “Trucker Mode,” which identifies the location of height- and weight-restricted bridges and highlights restricted routes, such as the parkways, and all commercial vehicle operators are encouraged to use “Trucker Mode” to verify their route ahead of time. Additionally, when driving rented box trucks, such as moving trucks, drivers must be especially aware of their vehicle’s height and obey all warning signs since many drivers are not accustomed to operating a larger vehicle.