Nearly 39,000 CMV Drivers Cited or Warned During Safe Driver Week
Law enforcement officers issued nearly 39,000 citations and warnings to commercial vehicle operators for bad driving behaviors during Operation Safe Driver Week in October, according to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.
The top five citations/warnings issued to CMV drivers during the Oct. 15-21 stepped up traffic enforcement included: state/local moving violations (84.2%), speeding (7.4%), failure to use seat belt (2.6%), failure to obey traffic control device (2.5%) and using a handheld phone (0.8%).
Of the total, 30,714 warnings and 8,164 citations were recorded for commercial vehicle drivers, CVSA said. By comparison, 7,785 warnings and 12,530 citations were recorded for passenger vehicle drivers.
The operation also issued 20,315 citations/warnings to passenger vehicle drivers, 43.5% of which were for speeding. The other most frequent citations and warnings issued to passenger vehicle drivers included state/local moving violations (36.2%), failure to use seat belt (9.4%), failure to obey a traffic control device (2.3%) and improper lane change (1.5%).
In addition, 16 CMV drivers received a warning/citation for using or equipping a CMV with a radar detector. A small percentage of warnings/citations were for inattentive or careless driving — 0.2% of CMV drivers and 1.3% of passenger vehicle drivers.
Also, 19 CMV drivers received a citation for operating their vehicle while ill or fatigued and 86 received a warning.
“Driver behavior is often the most important factor in crashes,” CVSA Executive Director Collin Mooney said in a statement.
