What is CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver?

What is Operation Safe Driver and its purpose?

The CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver program was created in 2007 to help reduce the number of crashes, deaths, and injuries involving large trucks, buses, and passenger vehicles due to unsafe driving behaviors. This program is sponsored by the CVSA, in partnership with FMCSA, and with support from industry and transportation safety organizations. The initiative aims to help improve the behavior of all drivers operating in an unsafe manner, either in or around commercial motor vehicles, through educational and traffic enforcement strategies to address individuals exhibiting high-risk driving behaviors.

What are the dates and emphasis of the Operation Safe Driver Week?

The dates for 2019 are July 14-20. Law enforcement personnel will be on the lookout for commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in dangerous driver behaviors. The CVSA selected speeding as the emphasis area for this year’s Safe Driver program. Law enforcement jurisdictions throughout North America will be endorsing, promoting, and supporting the following message –

“Late won’t kill you, speeding will”.

Some of the statistics that lead to this year’s focus were:

In 2017, speeding was a contributing factor in 26 percent of all traffic fatalities, according to NHTSA.
During last year’s Operation Safe Driver Week, 16,909 passenger vehicle drivers and 1,908 commercial vehicle drivers were issued citations for speeding.
According to the FMCSA’s 2016 Large Truck and Bus Facts, speeding of any kind was the most frequent driver-related crash factor for drivers of commercial motor vehicles and passenger vehicles.

“For more than two decades, speeding has been involved in nearly one-third of all motor vehicle fatalities’, said Jay Thompson, CVSA President and Chief with the Arkansas Highway Police. “That is unacceptable, especially because it is preventable. We will continue to educate the public on the dangers of speeding and we will identify individuals who are speeding on our roadways and may issue citations as a deterrent to future speeding tendencies and to affect driver behavior”.

In addition to the emphasis on speeding, other dangerous driver behaviors will be tracked such as:

Distracted Driving
Texting
Failure to Use a Seatbelt
Following Too Closely
Improper Lane Change
Reckless or Aggressive Driving
Failure to Obey Traffic Control Devices
Evidence of Drunk or Drugged Driving

What were the results from the 2018 Operation Safe Driver Week?

In 2018, law enforcement officers issued nearly 11,000 citations to truck and bus drivers during the annual enforcement spree. According to numbers from the CVSA, officers pulled over or inspected 42,144 commercial vehicle drivers and issued 10,709 citations and 29,908 warnings during the week-long event that was held July 15-21. By contrast, 71,187 passenger vehicles were pulled over, resulting in 46,696 citations and 57,999 warnings.

For the full results from the 2018 Operation Safe Driver Week click on the following link – https://cvsa.org/news-entry/2018-osd-week-results/