Operation Safe Driver Week campaign returns in July

Law enforcement officers will focus more sharply than normal in mid-July on drivers of commercial trucks and passenger vehicles engaged in unsafe driving behavior.

Operation Safe Driver Week is scheduled for July 9-15. The traffic enforcement and awareness-raising campaign is coordinated by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.

Law enforcement authorities in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will be taking part in the increased enforcement. Drivers exhibiting unsafe driving behaviors will be pulled over and issued a warning or citation.

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; and failure to wear a seat belt.

Each year, Operation Safe Driver Week focuses on a specific unsafe driving behavior to call attention to the dangers of that behavior. This year, the focus will be on speeding.

Early last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation unveiled its National Roadway Safety Strategy. It was described as a roadmap for addressing the national crisis in roadway fatalities and serious injuries. The plan included updates to traffic control devices, expanded use of technology, and the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program.

CVSA says its Operation Safe Driver Week campaign supports the goals of the National Roadway Safety Strategy. CVSA cites a 2011 study in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management in which the researcher found that tickets “significantly reduce accidents and nonfatal injuries.”

Last year during Operation Safe Driver Week, officers in Canada and the U.S. pulled over more than 35,000 commercial motor vehicles and passenger vehicles. The officers issued 26,164 warnings and citations to them for unsafe driving behavior.

There were 2,577 warnings issued for speeding and driving too fast for conditions to commercial vehicle drivers and 1,490 citations for the same. That was the top class of violations last year.

Failure to obey a traffic control device and driving without a seat belt were roughly tied for second place.

There were 944 warnings and 505 citations issued to commercial vehicle drivers for failure to obey a traffic control device.

There were 678 warnings and 735 citations issued to commercial vehicle drivers for failure to use a seat belt while operating a commercial motor vehicle. LL