WASHINGTON — The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has announced July 7-13 as the dates for this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week.
The safe-driving enforcement and outreach initiative is aimed at improving driving behaviors through educational and traffic-enforcement strategies and driver interactions with law enforcement.
Throughout Operation Safe Driver Week, law enforcement personnel in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will be on the lookout for commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in unsafe driving behaviors, such as speeding, distracted driving, following too closely, drunk or drugged driving, etc.
Drivers engaging in such behaviors will be pulled over by law enforcement and may be issued a warning or citation.
The focus area for this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week is reckless, careless or dangerous driving, according to a news release.
“Any person who drives a vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is driving recklessly,” the news release states. “Careless/dangerous driving is defined as operating a vehicle without due care and attention or reasonable consideration for other motorists or people on the road.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, effective, high-visibility communications and outreach are essential parts of successful transportation safety programs.
“However, communications and outreach programs are unlikely to have an effect unless they are tied to vigorous enforcement,” according to the news release. “Operation Safe Driver Week aims to improve the safety of our roadways through proactive driver safety outreach and education, and by addressing unsafe driving behaviors through responsive traffic enforcement when drivers are identified engaging in dangerous driving behaviors on our roadways.”
Operation Safe Driver Week is part of CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Program.
The program offers resources for teen and new drivers and commercial motor vehicle drivers, along with safe-driving public service announcement videos, which are available for download and distribution. CVSA is also offering Operation Safe Driver Week postcards at no cost to its industry and enforcement members. The postcards are available in English, French and Spanish.
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
