Safe Driver Week is scheduled for July 7-13, 2024.
During the week of July 7-13, law enforcement personnel will be on the lookout for commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in risky driving. Identified unsafe drivers will be pulled over and issued a citation or warning.
Traffic Accidents Happen
Many traffic crashes result in fatalities. Latest statistics show:
- 42,795 fatal traffic accidents in 2022, in the U.S.
- 15,979 fatal traffic accidents in 2022, in the Mexico
- 1,768 fatal traffic accidents in 2021, in the Canada
The most common causes of vehicle crashes are speeding, distracted driving, and drunk-driving:
- Speeding has been a factor in more than a quarter of crash deaths since 2008.
- Speeding of any kind was the most frequent driver-related crash factor for drivers of commercial motor vehicles and passenger vehicles.
- Speeding 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.
- Distracted driving claimed 3,142 lives in 2019.
- Every day, about 28 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes — that’s one person every 52 minutes.
- In 2019, 10,142 people lost their lives due to drunk driving.
2024 Focus Area: Reckless, Careless / Dangerous Driving
During this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week, law enforcement personnel will be on the lookout for reckless, careless or dangerous driving:
- Any person who drives a vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property is guilty of reckless driving.
- Careless/dangerous driving is defined as operating a vehicle without due care and attention or reasonable consideration for other motorists or people on the road.
Prepare Your Drivers
The CVSA (Commerial Vehicle Safety Alliance) offers free materials and resources to educate the following drivers:
- Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers – The Operation Safe Driver program created materials designed to educate commercial motor vehicle drivers about the dangers and challenges they may encounter on roadways, such as distracted driving, aggressive driving, passenger vehicle drivers cutting off commercial motor vehicles, etc. There are videos, audio PSAs and printable flyers, all available for free.
- New or Inexperienced Drivers – These materials, which include videos, audio PSAs and printable flyers, were designed to teach teen and new or inexperienced drivers how to safely share the roads with large trucks and buses. This information can be used by driver’s education instructors, parent-teacher organizations, community groups, parents, or any other interested individuals or organizations, all available at no cost.
- CVSA created a complimentary postcard for enforcement officers to give to drivers and motor carriers or for drivers and motor carriers to order directly. All you have to do is fill out the online order form and they will mail the postcards out to you, completely free of charge. The postcards are available in
English, French and Spanish. They can also be copy/pasted from here:
![Operation Safe Driver Week](https://i0.wp.com/nmhubteam.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-osd-week-postcard-1_Page_1.png?fit=640%2C457&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/nmhubteam.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-osd-week-postcard-1_Page_2.png?fit=640%2C457&ssl=1)
![Scott Gates](https://i0.wp.com/nmhubteam.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/scott.jpeg?fit=600%2C750&ssl=1)
For additional resources, contact Scott Gates, experienced risk advisor in the commercial transportation industry.