During the Commerical Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Operation Safe Driver Week that occurred October 15-21, 2017, law enforcement issued 59,193 warnings and citations to both commercial motor vehicle drivers and motorists.
Operation Safe Driver Week
These citations and warnings were given for unsafe driving behavior on the road.
According to the Commerical Vehicle Safety Alliance, unsafe driving behaviors are the leading cause of crashes. The FMCSA reported that driver behavior is the critical reason for more than 88 percent of large truck crashes and 93 percent of passenger-vehicle crashes.
The unsafe driving behavior that was being watched for are as follows:
- Speeding
- Distracted driving
- Texting
- Failure to use a seatbelt
- Traveling too closely
- Improper lane change
- Failure to obey traffic control devices
The results are in
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Highway Loss Data Institute, 3,852 people died in large truck crashes in 2015. Sixteen percent of the deaths involving a CMV were fatal to the passenger of the truck, and 69% were fatal to the occupants of passenger vehicles.
Following the week, the citations and warning were compiled in order to assess the frequency of each offense.
The top 5 CMV offenses:
- State/Local Moving Violations – 84.2 percent (of warnings/citations)
- Speeding – 7.4 percent
- Failure to Use Seat Belt – 2.6 percent
- Failure to Obey Traffic Control Device – 2.5 percent
- Using a Handheld Phone – 0.8 percent
The top 5 passenger vehicle offenses:
- Speeding – 43.5 percent (of warnings/citations)
- State/Local Moving Violations – 36.2 percent
- Failure to Use Seat Belt – 9.4 percent
- Failure to Obey Traffic Control Device – 2.3 percent
- Improper Lane Change – 1.5 percent
Overall, the other observations made during Operation Safe Driver Week are as follows:
- A total of 38,878 citations/warnings were issued to CMV drivers.
- A total of 20,315 citations/warnings were issued to passenger vehicle drivers.
- 30,714 warnings and 8,164 citations were recorded for CMV drivers.
- 7,785 warnings and 12,530 citations were recorded for passenger vehicle drivers.
- 43.5 percent of passenger vehicle driver warnings/citations were issued for speeding, versus 7.4 percent of CMV driver warnings/citations.
- When it comes to distracted driving, 0.1 percent of CMV driver warnings/citations were for texting and 0.8 percent were for using a handheld phone. For passenger vehicle drivers, 0.7 percent of warnings/citations were for texting and 0.5 percent were for using a handheld phone.
- For both CMV drivers (2.6 percent) and passenger vehicle drivers (9.4 percent) failure to wear a seat belt was the third most cited traffic enforcement violation for each group.
- Less than one percent of warnings/citations for CMV drivers (0.6 percent) and passenger vehicle drivers (0.9 percent) were for following too closely.
- 16 CMV drivers received a warning/citation for using/equipping a CMV with a radar detector.
- A small percentage of warnings/citations were for inattentive or careless driving – 0.2 percent of CMV drivers and 1.3 percent of passenger vehicle drivers.
- 19 CMV drivers received a citation for operating their vehicle while ill or fatigued; 86 received a warning.
CVSA Executive Director Collin Mooney stated that , “Countless lives are tragically lost on our roadways due to unsafe, risky, inattentive or careless acts by drivers. In fact, driver behavior is often the most important factor in crashes. Operation Safe Driver Week raises awareness about safe driver operations in and around trucks and buses.”