Operation Safe Driver Week is set for July 9-15, 2023.

Operation Safe Driver Week is a safe-driving awareness and outreach initiative aimed at improving the driving behaviors of passenger vehicle and commercial motor vehicle drivers through educational and traffic enforcement strategies and interactions with law enforcement. Throughout Operation Safe Driver Week, law enforcement personnel will be on the lookout for drivers engaging in risky driving. Officers will pull over and issue a citation or warning to drivers engaged in unsafe behavior.

Data shows that traffic stops and interactions with law enforcement help reduce problematic driving behaviors, according to CVSA. By making contact with drivers during Operation Safe Driver Week, law enforcement personnel aim to make roadways safer by targeting high-risk driving behaviors.

During Operation Safe Driver Week in 2022, officers in Canada and the U.S. pulled over more than 35,000 commercial and passenger vehicles. They issued 26,164 warnings and citations to commercial motor vehicle drivers and motorists engaging in unsafe driving behaviors, ranging from speeding to distracted driving.

Law enforcement officers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will be on the lookout for commercial motor vehicle drivers and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in unsafe driving behaviors during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Operation Safe Driver Week, July 9 to 15. Those exhibiting unsafe

driving behaviors will be pulled over and given a warning and/or issued a ticket/citation by law enforcement, according to CVSA.

The weeklong driver safety traffic enforcement and awareness campaign aims to identify unsafe drivers, deter dangerous driving behaviors, and prompt positive driving habits through officer interactions with drivers. CVSA reports data shows that traffic stops and interactions with law enforcement help reduce problematic driving behaviors.

CVSA cites as examples of unsafe driver behaviors:

• Speeding
• improper lane changes
• improper passing
• improper turns
• driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• using a handheld device while driving
• failure to wear a seatbelt

Speeding Focus

Each year, Operation Safe Driver Week focuses on a specific unsafe driving behavior to call attention to the dangers of that behavior. This year, the focus

will be on speeding, CVSA announced in a press release. In fact, its focus has been speeding since at least 2019.

CVSA said it has continued to focus on speeding because it remains a persistent problem on roadways and increases the frequency and severity of crashes. Unsafe driving speeds, according to CVSA, are a well-documented factor in fatalities and injuries.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched its National Roadway Safety Strategy, a comprehensive approach to significantly reducing

serious injuries and deaths on highways, roads, and streets.

CVSA said Operation Safe Driver Week aims to improve roadway safety by reminding drivers, via driver safety communication and education, to manage their speeds and by addressing speeding via responsive traffic enforcement.