Data collected during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's fall Operation Safe Driver campaign showed car drivers show an alarming propensity for speeding around big trucks.

During the mid-October blitz, law enforcement officers issued 4,363 warnings and 3,970 citations to speeding car drivers, and 1,434 warnings and 1,195 citations to speeding truck drivers.

Speeding topped the violation list, followed by failure to obey a traffic control device and failure to wear a seatbelt. Violation rates between car and truck drivers were similar in these categories. Law enforcement officers pulled over nearly 53,000 commercial and passenger vehicle drivers between Oct. 17 and 23, 2010.

"CVSA's Operation Safe Driver is targeting each and every driver, whether they drive a passenger car or a CMV, and alerting offenders that their poor driving behaviors result in lives lost," said Stephen A. Keppler, CVSA's executive director. "We will continue to emphasize this point, through both education and enforcement tactics, until we eliminate those driver behaviors that are specifically linked to causing crashes."

Of the warnings issued to CMV drivers, 20.3% were for speeding (versus 61.2% for passenger car drivers); 4.2% were for failure to obey traffic control devices (compared to 5.8% for passenger car drivers); and, 2.6% were issued for failing to use a seat belt while operating their vehicle (compared to 2.8% for passenger car counterparts).

Of the citations issued to CMV drivers, 13.7% were for speeding (versus 51.6% for passenger car drivers); 4.6% were for failure to obey traffic control devices (compared to 1.5% for passenger car drivers); and, 10% were issued for failing to use a seat belt while operating their vehicle (compared to 8.0% for passenger car counterparts). CMV drivers were issued significantly more warnings and citations in 2010 for failing to buckle up (1,055) versus in 2009 (672).

Operation Safe Driver 2010 results include:

* 39,784 CMV Roadside Inspections (5.3% resulted in the driver being placed out-of-service; 27.4% of the Level I Inspections resulted in the vehicle(s) being placed out of service. In 2009, there were 30,294 inspections conducted and a driver OOS rate of 5.3%, vehicle Level I OOS rate of 26.1%;
* For Drivers: 0.44 violations per roadside inspection (0.44 in 2009); 0.08 OOS violations per roadside inspection (same in 2009); 0.04 citations per roadside inspection (0.04 in 2009);
* For Vehicles: 1.04 violations per roadside inspection (1.12 in 2009); 0.23 OOS violations per roadside inspection (0.19 in 2009); 0.08 citations per roadside inspection (0.05 in 2009);
* 21,555 CMV Driver Traffic Enforcement Contacts: 7,062 warnings were issued (0.33 per contact); 8,724 citations were issued (0.40 per contact); In 2009, there were 20,198 contacts, which resulted in 6,887 warnings (0.34 per contact) and 8,067 citations (0.40 per contact);
* 12,926 Non-CMV Driver Traffic Enforcement Contacts: 7,126 warnings were issued (0.55 per contact); 7,700 citations were issued (0.60 per contact); In 2009, there were 10,917 contacts, which resulted in 3,818 warnings (0.35 per contact) and 10,365 citations (0.95 per contact);
* 31,737 CMV Driver License checks (27,903 in 2009) and 9,878 Non-CMV Driver License checks (8,577 in 2009); and,

More info: www.cvsa.org