Operation Safe Driver is a CVSA program aimed at reducing unsafe driver behaviors by educating all drivers about ways to share the roads safely. The Operation Safe Driver program:
- Targets unsafe driving behaviors by passenger vehicle drivers and commercial drivers
- Educates youth about safely sharing the roads with large trucks and buses
- Offers commercial driver educational and awareness programs to the motor carrier population
- Increases awareness to the general motoring public about safe operations around commercial motor vehicles
- Aims to improve commercial motor driver regulatory compliance
- Conducts passenger vehicle and commercial motor vehicle traffic enforcement initiatives
Operation Safe Driver Week
The Operation Safe Driver program holds an annual one-week enforcement and educational campaign, Operation Safe Driver Week, that targets unsafe driving behaviors by both commercial motor vehicle drivers and car drivers in an effort to combat the number of deaths and injuries from crashes.
CVSA – in partnership with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), state, provincial and local law enforcement, and industry – launched the Operation Safe Driver campaign in 2007 to reduce the number of deaths and injuries resulting from crashes involving large trucks, buses and cars.
Why Target Driver Behaviors?
This program focuses specifically on drivers because drivers’ actions – whether it’s something a driver did, like speeding, or something they didn’t do, such as not paying attention to the driving task – are responsible for most crashes. In fact, drivers’ actions contribute to a staggering 94% of all traffic crashes.
Furthermore, last year, roadway fatalities increased 24% over the previous 12-month period, despite miles driven dropping 13%. With the decrease in the number of vehicles on our roadways last year due to the pandemic, we expected a decrease roadway fatalities; however, not only did the rate of roadway deaths increase, that increase is the highest estimated year-over-year jump the National Safety Council has calculated in 96 years. This is, simply put, unacceptable. And the members of CVSA will do everything they can to reverse that alarming trend. Operation Safe Driver Week is part of that commitment.
Our Impact
Last year, despite the challenges associated with the pandemic, 3,681 enforcement officers from 55 Canadian and U.S. jurisdictions interacted with 29,921 commercial motor vehicle drivers and 36,500 passenger vehicle drivers during Operation Safe Driver Week. That’s 66,421 drivers law enforcement personnel noticed were engaging in unsafe driver behaviors and that’s 66,421 opportunities to change drivers’ behaviors. Research has shown that interactions with law enforcement does alter drivers’ actions. Law enforcement personnel issued 71,343 warnings and citations during last year’s Operation Safe Driver Week. View Operation Safe Driver Week results from previous years.
Educational Campaigns and Outreach Materials
The Operation Safe Driver program offers materials and resources to educate the following drivers:
- Teens and 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.
- 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.
Video PSAs
The Operation Safe Driver program offers videos to educate drivers about how to safely share the roads and the dangers of aggressive driving behaviors, such as speeding, cutting off other vehicles, etc.
