Operation Safe Driver Week Rolls October 19-25

During the week of October 19-25, 2014, law enforcement agencies across North America will engage in heightened traffic safety enforcement and education aimed at unsafe driving behaviors by both commercial motor vehicle and passenger-vehicle drivers during Operation Safe Driver Week, sponsored by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), in partnership with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and with support from industry and a number of other transportation safety organizations.

The need is clear.

In 2012, more than 4,100 people were killed and 126,000 were injured in large truck and bus crashes on our roadways. According to the group, “many of those accidents are the direct result of the drivers – both truck and bus drivers, as well as the passenger-vehicle drivers operating unsafely around them.”

CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver program was created to help to combat the number of deaths resulting from crashes involving large trucks, buses and cars.

“This coordinated and far-reaching enforcement effort, coupled with the program’s education and awareness components for drivers of all vehicles, focuses on unsafe driving behaviors, which translates to fewer accidents and fatalities,” said CVSA President Captain Bill Reese with the Idaho State Police.

Last year, law enforcement officers stopped 74,765 commercial and passenger vehicle drivers during the 2013 Operation Safe Driver mobilization week; nearly triple the 26,487 stopped during the 2012 event.

The top three reasons warnings and citations were issued to both commercial and non-commercial vehicle drivers were: (1) speeding, (2) failing to use a safety belt, and (3) failure to obey traffic control devices.

“Whether you are a professional truck or bus driver, a parent shuttling your kids to school, or a newly licensed teenager, we want you to arrive at your destination safely, “said FMCSA Acting Administrator Scott Darling.

Category: Driver Stuff, Featured, General Update, Management, Safety