Operation Safe Driver Week: Almost 135,000 citations, warnings issued

Greenbelt, MD — Law enforcement officials issued nearly 47,000 citations and approximately 88,000 warnings during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Operation Safe Driver Week.

From July 14 to July 20, law enforcement officers throughout the United States and Canada were on the lookout for commercial and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in unsafe behaviors such as texting, following too closely and not wearing seat belts, while placing an emphasis on speeding, CVSA states in a Sept. 17 press release.

Citations and warnings related to speeding were most common among both groups of drivers: Commercial motor vehicle drivers received 1,454 citations and 2,126 warnings, and passenger vehicle drivers amassed 16,102 citations and 21,001 warnings. Next was failure to wear a seat belt and failure to obey a traffic control device, respectively, for both groups.

The rest of top 10 driver-behavior citations and warnings given to CMV drivers were:

• Using a cellphone/texting: 249 citations and 170 warnings
• Improper lane change: 92 and 194
• Following too closely: 57 and 143
• Possession/use/under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs: 55 and 18
• Improper passing: 41 and 30
• Inattentive, careless and/or reckless driving: 32 and 55
• Operating while ill or fatigued: 25 and 45

“Although CVSA is an organization focused on commercial motor vehicle safety, we know that if we want to prevent crashes involving commercial motor vehicles and passenger vehicles, it’s important that we focus on both types of vehicles and drivers,” Jay Thompson, CVSA president and chief of the Arkansas Highway Police, said in the release. “Operation Safe Driver Week is our effort to focus on driver behaviors, the leading cause of crashes.”