Each year the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) performs an enforcement blitz as part of Operation Safe Driver. Operation Safe Driver focuses on commercial drivers operating trucks and buses as well as the passenger cars that are driving near trucks and buses.
Fewer Speeders & Seatbelt Violations
Operation Safe Driver was launched in 2007 by CVSA, in partnership with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), to address the problem of improving the behavior of all drivers operating in an unsafe manner — either by, in, or around commercial vehicles — and to initiate educational and enforcement strategies to address those exhibiting high-risk behaviors.
According to the group’s website, the “CVSA is an international not-for-profit organization comprised of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal motor carrier safety officials and industry representatives from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Our mission is to promote commercial motor vehicle safety and security by providing leadership to enforcement, industry and policy makers. CVSA member jurisdictions are represented by various Departments of Transportation, Public Utility and Service Commissions, State Police, Highway Patrols and Ministries of Transport. In addition, CVSA has several hundred associate members who are committed to helping the Alliance achieve its goals; uniformity, compatibility and reciprocity of commercial vehicle inspections, and enforcement activities throughout North America by individuals dedicated to highway safety and security.”
In October of 2013, law enforcement officers pulled over 29,048 commercial drivers during the one week blitz. The percentage of truck and bus drivers cited or warned for speeding and seat belt use declined during the 2013 OSD blitz according to the CVSA. Of the commercial drivers who were pulled over in October of 2013, 7.3% were cited or warned for speeding and 2.9% for seat belt use. That compares with a 10.8% warning or citation rate for speeding in the 2012 blitz and 3.8% for seat belt use, the CVSA said.
Speeding and seat belt citations and warnings dropped for passenger car drivers who were operating around commercial vehicles as well. While the drop was welcome, these two types of violations were the most recorded for both classes of drivers. 7.3% of commercial drivers were pulled over for speeding and 56% of passenger car drivers were warned or cited for speeding.
Officers participating in the blitz, pulled over 74,765 drivers as part of the operation. This number is nearly three times the number of drivers who were pulled over in 2012.
“Operation Safe Driver continues to increase its impact each year in targeting problem behaviors by all drivers, whether they drive a passenger car or a CMV, and by taking action on those who need it,” CVSA’s president, Sgt. Thomas Fuller from the New York State Police, said in a statement. “We will continue to grow our enforcement and outreach efforts until we can eliminate those driving behaviors that have been shown to cause or contribute to crashes involving large trucks and buses.”
