CVSA to target agressive drivers Oct 18-25th

by Jennifer Schnittker
(Butler, Pa 16001)

CVSA: Aggressive Drivers Will Get An Aggressive Response

10/15/2008
During the week of October 19-25, law enforcement across North America will actively target aggressive drivers -- of both passenger and commercial vehicles -- during a campaign dubbed "Operation Safe Driver."

"In large truck crashes where one or more deaths result from the crash, 88 percent of the time it is attributable to driver error by both car and truck drivers," said Stephen F. Campbell, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. "Operation Safe Driver will have a razor sharp focus on targeting and taking aggressive enforcement action for poor decisions made by drivers of commercial vehicles and those four-wheelers operating unsafely around them."

CVSA, in partnership with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, state, provincial and local law enforcement and industry launched the campaign last year to combat the number of deaths in crashes involving large trucks and passenger vehicles.

CVSA is also rolling out education and awareness strategies to combat what Campbell called an "epidemic." Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death worldwide among young people aged 10-24 years. Each year nearly 400,000 people under 25 die on the world's roads -- on average more than 1,000 a day.

Operation Safe Driver will hold activities across the United States, Canada and Mexico that aim to increase commercial vehicle and non-commercial vehicle traffic enforcement; safety belt enforcement; driver roadside inspections; driver regulatory compliance; implementation of commercial driver educational and awareness programs to the motor carrier population; and, awareness to the motoring public about safe operations around commercial motor vehicles.

For more information about the campaign, visit www.cvsa.org/safedriver.

CVSA is an international not-for-profit organization made up of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal motor carrier safety officials and industry representatives from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Its mission is to promote commercial motor vehicle safety and security by providing leadership to enforcement, industry and policy makers.