From October 18-24, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) is celebrating Operation Safe Driver Week. This week-long initiative aims to provide an increase in traffic safety enforcement and education towards unsafe driving behaviours for both passenger cars and commercial motor vehicles. This initiative spans across the US and Canada.
Each year there are thousands of deaths and even more injuries on the road with over 70% being multi-vehicle crashes. Whether you’re a driver or passenger in a vehicle, safety is everyone’s responsibility who is on the road.
The purpose and value of this week is not only to bring forth awareness but hold a series of events in an effort to educate and prevent crashes involving trucks, buses, and cars. Along with increased patrolling, there will also be outreach events throughout the week at high schools, state capitals, state fairs, truck rodeos, sporting events and other locations.
Law enforcement will be cracking down throughout the week to pull over and take unsafe drivers off the road. During last year’s Operation Safe Driver week, 59,080 commercial drivers and passenger cars were pulled over for unsafe driving behaviors.
However, violations seem to be decreasing. In June, there was an initiative called “Roadcheck 2015” which stopped over 70,000 trucks and buses for inspections across the US. According to the CVSA, there were 44,989 trucks pulled over for a Level I Inspection and 25% of these vehicles were placed out-of-service for various violations (4% drivers and 21% vehicles). The most common causes for these violations were brake-related.
Although this may seem like a fair amount, this has been the lowest since the CVSA started tracking the data in 1991. In 2014, the amount of pulled over drivers was closer to 28-29%. Also, when you compare this to the millions of trucks on the road, this is certainly impressive.
According to the CVSA, here are the top violations in previous years:
|
Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers |
Passenger Drivers |
|
1) Speeding |
1) Speeding |
|
2) Failure to use a safety belt |
2) Failure to use a safety belt |
|
3) Failure to obey traffic control devices |
3) Failure to obey a traffic control device |
|
4) Improper lane change |
4) Possession/under the influence of alcohol |
|
5) Following too closely |
5) Improper lane change |
Distracted driving has also been a concern, with many states and provinces introducing legislation to discourage and punish drivers who are caught engaging in distracted activities. In Ontario, the home province of BigRoad, there has been distracted driving legislation for years, however, as it continues to be a problem, penalties have significantly increased earlier this year.
BigRoad’s app allows commercial drivers easily maintain accurate logs without any distraction. Just one click shows drivers as on-duty and one click to change to off-duty. For hands-free, upgrade to DashLink which provides engine-connected hardware in conjunction to the eLog app and satisfies the ELD mandate.
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