CVSA's 2020 Operation Safe Driver Week Targets Speeding
CVSA's driver-focused enforcement week ran July 12-18, 2020, with officers concentrating on speeding by truck drivers and the motorists around them.
In July 2020, law enforcement agencies took part in the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's (CVSA) annual Operation Safe Driver Week from July 12 to 18, with speeding as the main target. The week went ahead on its original dates even though the pandemic had already pushed CVSA's biggest inspection event, International Roadcheck, off its May schedule.
What the week was about
Operation Safe Driver Week is a traffic enforcement campaign aimed at dangerous driving behaviour, not mechanical defects. Officers watch for unsafe moves by truck and bus drivers and by car drivers around them, and they issue warnings or citations.
For 2020, CVSA made speeding the focus. The Delaware State Police, announcing the state's participation on July 9, 2020, said its commercial vehicle inspectors would target speeding by commercial drivers and by motorists driving unsafely near trucks. Patrol units also planned to look for:
- distracted driving;
- failure to wear a seat belt;
- following too closely and improper lane changes;
- reckless or aggressive driving;
- failure to obey traffic control devices;
- impaired driving.
All of these were to be tracked for the week's results.
Why speeding
The Delaware announcement cited federal crash data. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, driver actions had historically contributed to 94% of traffic crashes. NHTSA's 2018 data showed overall traffic deaths down 2.4%, while fatal crashes involving large trucks rose 0.9%.
CVSA's president at the time, Sgt. John Samis of the Delaware State Police, said the initiative needed to go on as scheduled. He pointed out that commercial drivers were busy moving essential goods while many car drivers were limiting their trips.
A campaign that survived the pandemic
When CVSA postponed International Roadcheck on March 25, 2020, it said Roadcheck was the only public enforcement initiative being moved. CVSA confirmed at that time that Operation Safe Driver Week would stay on July 12–18 and Brake Safety Week on August 23–29. It also stressed that daily roadside inspections and traffic enforcement would continue throughout the pandemic.
What it meant for drivers
For truck drivers, the practical message was simple. During the week, officers taking part were paying extra attention to speed, and also to seat belt use, distracted driving, following distance and lane changes.
Archive: this article describes rules and events as of July 2020. Regulations may have changed since, so check the current rule before relying on it.