WASHINGTON — Truckers, watch those speedometers closely this week.
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Operation Safe Driver Week runs from today through July 15, and officers say they will crack down on speeding by issuing warnings and citations.
Throughout the week, law enforcement in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will be also on the lookout for commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in unsafe driving behaviors, according to a CVSA news release.
“This weeklong driver safety traffic enforcement and awareness campaign aims to identify unsafe drivers, deter dangerous driving behaviors and prompt positive driving habits through officer interactions with drivers,” the news release noted. “Data shows that traffic stops and interactions with law enforcement help reduce problematic driving behaviors.”
Examples of unsafe driver behaviors are speeding; improper lane changes, passing or turns; driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol; using a handheld device; failure to wear a seat belt, etc.
Each year, Operation Safe Driver Week focuses on a specific unsafe driving behavior to call attention to the dangers of that behavior.
This year, that focus will be on speeding.
“CVSA has continued to focus on speeding because it remains a persistent problem on our roadways,” the news release stated. “Speeding increases the frequency and severity of crashes, and unsafe speeds are a well-documented factor in fatalities and injuries.”
2022 results
During 2022’s Operation Safe Driver Week, which ran from July 10-16, officers in Canada and the U.S. pulled over more than 35,000 commercial motor vehicles and passenger vehicles and issued 26,164 warnings and citations to commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in unsafe driving behaviors, ranging from speeding to distracted driving.
Just as this year, speeding was the focus of the 2022 event and was the top violation — in warnings given and citations issued — for all drivers, according to the CVSA.
Officers issued 8,586 citations and 7,299 warnings for speeding/violating basic speed law/driving too fast for conditions.
Broken out, that amounts to 2,577 warnings to commercial motor vehicle drivers and 4,722 to passenger vehicle drivers. Citations were given to 1,490 commercial motor vehicle drivers and 7,096 passenger vehicle drivers.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), speeding has played a role in more than a quarter of traffic deaths — killing nearly 100,000 people — over the past decade. In 2020 alone, there were 11,258 speeding-related deaths in the U.S.
In addition, the American Transportation Research Institute’s recently updated “Predicting Truck Crash Involvement” report found that when a commercial motor vehicle driver receives a speeding violation, that increases their likelihood of being involved in a crash by 47%.
And, according to Transport Canada, speeding/driving too fast was a contributing factor in 25.3% of fatal crashes in 2020.
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
It,s goin to be a long night.
Yes….🙏 for all involved
It’s a shame, they are always complaining about big trucks, they say we are always i a 4 wheelers way but they do nothing about the other drivers there use to be a time when they would check the cars but realized there were more money in big trucks so they leave cars alone and triple fines on big trucks, than they wonder why truck drivers are getting fewer and fewer ,little pay, dangerous because of other drivers, all of these highway checks, it’s just not worth it let the people defend for themselves, oh I forgot the price of fuel which is ridiculous as it just left over gas
It seems to me that all Professional Truck Drivers are going to have to have the doubles and triples endorsement. WHY? BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE A TRAILER JUST TO HAUL THE FMCSA RULES AND REGULATION HANDBOOK!!!!!!!!! AHAHAHALMAO
NOW THAT IS SOME FUNNY SHIT AND I DON’T CARE WHO YOU ARE