CVSA Releases 2020 Operation Safe Driver Week Results

During this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week, which took place July 12-18, law enforcement found 29,921 truck drivers engaging in unsafe driver behaviors.

Commercial motor vehicle drivers were issued 6,077 warnings and 4,659 citations for traffic enforcement violations. Speeding, which was the focus of this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week, was the top traffic enforcement violation, with truck drivers receiving 2,339 speed-related citations and 3,423 warnings — 56.33% of all warnings and 50.20% of all citations.

The top five traffic enforcement citations given to commercial motor vehicle drivers were:

1. Speeding/violation of basic speed law/driving too fast for the conditions – 2,339
2. Failure to use seat belt while operating commercial motor vehicle – 1,003
3. Failure to obey traffic control device – 617
4. Using a hand-held phone/texting – 269
5. Improper lane change – 122

Failure to use seat belt while operating a commercial motor vehicle was the second most identified traffic enforcement offense, accounting for 12.51% of all warnings (760) and 21.53% (1,003) of all citations given to commercial motor vehicle drivers. Phone use and texting only accounted for 4.35% of all warnings and citations this year.

“When commercial motor vehicles and passenger vehicles collide, no matter who was at fault, the results can be catastrophic, especially for the smaller and lighter passenger vehicle. Preventing crashes from happening requires every driver – commercial and personal – to be aware of how to safely share the road with other types of vehicles,” said CVSA President Sgt. John Samis with the Delaware State Police.