CVSA plans Operation Safe Driver

As of press time, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance planned to push forward with its Operation Safe Driver enforcement campaign in July.

While the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily put the brakes on International Roadcheck, CVSA issued a news release in May announcing July 12-18 for Operation Safe Driver Week. The focus of this year’s enforcement campaign will be on speeding. A CVSA spokesperson also confirmed the organization plans to stage its annual Brake Safety Week in August.

In late March, The Transportation Intermediaries Association and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association teamed up to convince CVSA to postpone its annual Roadcheck campaign during the coronavirus crisis. The news release does not provide a rescheduled date for Roadcheck.

Mike Matousek, OOIDA’s government affairs manager, said the Association will continue to monitor the COVID-19 outbreak as the dates draw nearer.

“If things don’t improve significantly, we will communicate our concerns to CVSA and call for a delay,” he said.

During Operation Safe Driver Week, law enforcement personnel throughout North America will be looking for drivers who are engaging in unsafe driving behaviors on our roadways. Identified drivers will be pulled over by law enforcement and may be issued a warning or citation.

In its news release, CVSA noted that less traffic because of shelter-in-place and shutdown orders in most states appears to have encouraged some drivers to ignore traffic safety laws, including speed limits.

“Despite there being far fewer vehicles on the road due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, many jurisdictions are seeing a severe spike in speeding,” the release stated in May.

As the number of vehicles on roadways decreased in March and April, average speeds measured during the first week of April increased significantly in the five largest U.S. metropolitan areas.

According to recent data, the average speed on interstate highways, state highways and expressways in those areas increased by as much as 75% compared to January and February.
To address this alarming trend of increased speeding on our roadways during the pandemic, CVSA selected speeding as the focus area for this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week. LL