If it seems like enforcement is being extra observant this week out on the road, it’s not your imagination. Beginning Sunday, October 15, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA)’s Operation Safe Driver Week is underway.
This annual event is focused on drawing attention to unsafe driving behaviors by all drivers on the road in an effort to curb dangerous habits. Law enforcement agencies throughout North America will engage in heightened traffic safety activities through Saturday, October 21. Officers will be looking for behaviors including speeding, distracted driving, sealtbelt usage, texting with driving, following too closely, failure to obey traffic signals and unsafe lane changes.
Unsafe driving behaviors by drivers of both commercial and passenger vehicles are the leading causes of most crashes on our nation’s highways. More than 88 percent of large truck crashes and 93 percent of passenger-vehicle crashes are directly caused by driver error, according to the Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS), a three-year data collection project conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
Operation Safe Driver Week is sponsored by CVSA, in partnership with FMCSA and with support from industry and transportation safety organizations, and aims to help improve the behavior of all drivers operating in an unsafe manner – either in or around a CMV – through educational and traffic enforcement strategies to address individuals exhibiting high-risk driving behaviors. The Operation Safe Driver Program is useful throughout the year, outlining safe driving habits for two campaigns: Teens and Trucks, and Defeat Distracted Driving.
To find out about Operation Safe Driver Week enforcement events going on in your area, contact the agency/department responsible for overseeing CMV safety within your jurisdiction.
