Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Operation Safe Driver Week

This week marks the beginning of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Operation Safe Driver Week. The initiative is scheduled to continue through July 21, 2018. CVSA’s week-long initiative aims its focus on driver behaviors contributing to crashes. The safety based initiative will use heightened traffic enforcement to address driver behaviors resulting in crashes.

In May 2018, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration released its latest Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts report. According to the report, at least one driver-related factor was recorded for 32 percent of commercial motor vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes. The two most frequent driver-related factors identified in the report for CMV drivers were speeding and distracted driving.

Nationwide, petroleum marketers can expect to encounter 10,000 inspectors at 1,500 sites with the goal being to conduct 75,000 roadside inspections by July 21. Although the enforcement sweep will have its primary focus in on-road driver behavior, drivers stopped for violations may be subject to a full roadside vehicle inspection. During Operation Safe Driver Week, enforcement personnel will be focusing on traffic violations, seat belt enforcement, driver roadside inspections, and driver regulatory compliance including hours-of-service.

According to data from the 2017 Safe Driver Operation Week, the following list comprises the top 5 CDL driver violations:

1. State/Local Moving Violations: 84.2%
2. Speeding: 7.2%
3. Seat Belt Violation: 2.6%
4. Failure to Obey Traffic Control Device: 2.5%
5. Using a Handheld Phone: 0.8%