Data shows that even a 10 mph increase in speed ups the risk of a crash by 9.1%.
During Operation Safe Driver Week, law enforcement agencies across North America engage in heightened traffic safety enforcement and education aimed at combating unsafe driving behaviors by both commercial motor vehicle and passenger-vehicle drivers.
According to CVSA, activities are held across the United States, Canada and Mexico with the goal of increasing commercial vehicle and non-commercial vehicle traffic enforcement, safety belt enforcement, driver roadside inspections and driver regulatory compliance.
“Late won’t kill you, speeding will.”
The focus area for Operation Safe Driver Week is speeding.
Speeding continues to be the number one cited driver-related factor in highway fatal crashes and was a factor in 26% of all traffic fatalities in 2018, killing 9,378 people or an average of more than 25 people per day.
In 2018, NHTSA showed that speeding was a contributing factor in 26 percent of all traffic fatalities and just under 10,000 lives were lost due to speeding.
Past Operation Safe Driver Week Stats
Last year’s Operation Safe Driver Week saw 14,378 passenger vehicle drivers and 2,339 commercial motor vehicle drivers receive citations for speeding.
In 2019, 16,102 passenger vehicle drivers and 1,454 commercial motor vehicle drivers received citations for speeding.
During 2018’s Operation Safe Driver Week, 16,909 passenger vehicle drivers and 1,908 commercial motor vehicle drivers were issued citations for speeding.
The top citations that passenger and CMV drivers receive are for:
- Violating State/Local Laws
- Speeding
- Failing to use a seat belt
- Failure to obey a traffic control device
- Using a handheld phone
- Inattentive and/or careless driving
What will law enforcement look for?
Law enforcement will be on the lookout for drivers engaging in speeding and unsafe driving behaviors and will be pulling over drivers to issue a warning and/or citation.
This includes:
- speeding
- failure to use a seat belt
- reckless or aggressive driving
- distracted driving
- following too closely
- improper lane change
- failure to obey traffic control devices, and
- evidence of drunk or drugged driving
Failure to wear a seatbelt was the second highest violation for both types of drivers and buckling up is the single most effective thing vehicle drivers and passengers can do to protect themselves in the event of a crash.
A study in 2014 shows that issuing citations does influence driver behavior, with just a 1 percent increase in citations leading to a 28 percent reduction in motor vehicle crashes.
This reduction in crashes is a major reason law enforcement has backed and promoted CVSA’s focus on speeding and the message, “Late won’t kill you, speeding will.”