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Operation Safe Driver

 Each year more than 44,000 people die on the roadways throughout North America – many of which are the direct result of unsafe and aggressive driving practices by both passenger and commercial vehicle drivers. During the week of October 19-25, law enforcement across North America will respond by actively targeting these drivers 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. 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 4-wheelers operating unsafely around them,” said Stephen F. Campbell, Executive Director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. “We are also rolling out education and awareness strategies to combat this epidemic. Far too many deaths are occurring, and it is unacceptable to stand by and watch the carnage continue.”

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.

CVSA, in partnership with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), 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.

Inattention, insufficient awareness of traffic conditions and unsafe maneuvers by drivers are far and away the leading causes of fatal crashes between passenger cars and commercial vehicles,” said John H. Hill, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.  “Every driver must do their part to ensure safety on our highways and roads.”

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.

Something definately needs to be done. It keeps getting worse out there on the roads. People risking their lives just to get someplace a few seconds sooner. I know I have seen more than my share of stupidity on the roads. I'm not even driving a truck now and I see people pulling stupid stunts. There is nothing in this world so important that you need to risk your life. Some just do it to brag about how quick they are able to get from point A to point B. I have a brother-in-law that does that. I waste no time telling him what I think of idiots that drive like that. Needless to say,he doesn't care to much about me. OH WELL!!! Breaks my heart!! Anybody that brags about that kind of driving will be told exactly what I think and I won't be politically correct about it either.

As long as humans have been able to conceive the though of competing there have been those that feel they have to be bigger, faster, smarter, prettier etc. We reward those that get a job done faster and more efficiently by adding more things to their already hectic lives. With that added responsibility people seem to think they have to fore-go the use of common sense or so it seems to those of us that survive by using our common sense.
All these years I've wondered why there weren't MORE accidents between commercial vehicles and the other vehicles out there.

Take the fact that we move millions of products everyday across the nation, most without any issues or problems. It's a tribute to the skills of the commercial drivers out there that DO drive for everyone else, that DO try to set examples for others and DO stay calm when our heart of hearts wants to run over the idiot that just pulled out 20 feet in front of us and turned left against traffic. All this in a split second causes us to wonder IF the brakes will hold and where we can turn the wheel to avoid killing this person.

Sadly we won't change simply because it's human nature to compete and there will always be those that don't channel that in the right direction where it causes no harm.