CVSA Reports Results of Operation Safe Driver

The top five warnings and citations issued to commercial motor vehicle drivers during a law enforcement campaign in October, respectively, were for speeding, failure to use a safety belt, failure to obey traffic control devices, improper lane changes and following too closely, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance said Feb. 5.

Data were collected by 4,337 law enforcement officials at 1,549 locations across the United States and Canada during Operation Safe Driver, conducted Oct. 19-25.

Law enforcement officers pulled over 59,080 commercial and passenger vehicle drivers, and CVSA-certified inspectors conducted 24,184 North American Standard Roadside Inspections on commercial drivers and vehicles.

Officers found that noncommercial motor vehicle drivers speed significantly more than commercial motor vehicle drivers. Noncommercial drivers were issued a warning or citation for speeding 52.3%  of the time, versus 5.8% for CMV drivers, CVSA said.

CVSA said other results included:

• The number of warnings and citations per contact to CMV drivers was 0.45, whereas the number of warnings and citations per contact to non-CMV drivers was 1.27, nearly triple the amount.

• The percentage of warnings and citations issued to CMV drivers for speeding decreased to 5.8% in 2014 from 7.3% in 2013. It was 10.8% in 2012.

• The percentage of warnings and citations issued to CMV drivers for failing to obey traffic control devices increased to 2.5% in 2014 from 1.8% in 2013.

Operation Safe Driver was launched in 2007 by CVSA, in partnership with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and with support from industry and a number of other transportation safety organizations.

The operation’s goal has been to combat the number of deaths resulting from crashes involving large trucks, buses and cars by improving the behavior of all drivers operating in an unsafe manner — either by, in or around commercial vehicles.