July 10 marks the first day of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's (CVSA) weeklong driver safety traffic-enforcement initiative, Operation Safe Driver Week, according to the company's news release.

Officers, troopers, and inspectors throughout North America will take to roadways with keen attention to passenger vehicle drivers and commercial motor vehicle drivers who are driving unsafely.

Law enforcement personnel will be alert for individuals who are speeding, driving aggressively, ignoring roadway signs, using a handheld device, intoxicated, driving distracted, etc.

Drivers engaging in such behaviors will be pulled over by law enforcement and given a warning or issued a citation/ticket. 

Operation Safe Driver Week Focuses on Speeding

This year, the focus area for Operation Safe Driver Week will be on speeding because it continues to be a major factor in traffic deaths and injuries. 

There were 11,258 fatal crashes in the U.S. where at least one driver was speeding, 29% of the total traffic fatalities for 2020. 

Speeding/driving too fast accounted for 25.3% of all fatal roadway crashes in Canada in 2020. 

In 2020, 16.4% of road crashes on Mexico’s federal highway network were attributed to excessive speed. 

CVSA's Operation Safe Driver Program aims to reduce unsafe driver behaviors through focused traffic-enforcement, driver interactions with law enforcement, and by educating commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers about ways to share the roads safely. 

Drivers' actions contribute to 94% of all traffic crashes. 

In 45% of fatal passenger vehicle crashes, the drivers were engaged in at least one of the following risky behaviors: speeding, alcohol impairment, or not wearing a seat belt. 

From 2019 to 2020, fatalities in speeding-related crashes increased 17%, fatalities in alcohol-impaired driving crashes went up 14% and unrestrained passenger vehicle occupant fatalities were up by 14%. 

The top driver-related factors in fatal crashes involving commercial motor vehicles were speeding, impairment, and distraction/inattention.

Law Enforcement's Involvement

Throughout Operation Safe Driver Week, law enforcement personnel will provide warning and ticket/citation data to CVSA for each traffic-enforcement interaction. CVSA will gather that data and report the results later this year. 

Another important aspect of Operation Safe Driver Week is driver-safety education, awareness, and outreach.

In the days leading up to and during the week, jurisdictions in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. will provide safe-driving seminars, information, and resources to passenger vehicle drivers, commercial motor vehicle drivers, and motor carrier safety personnel.