Operation Safe Driver Week: Are Truckers the Primary Target?
For the third year in a row, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA)’s “Operation Safe Driver Week” traffic enforcement initiative, held in July, has clearly shown that officers’ attention is significantly more focused on the behavior of truck drivers than passenger vehicle drivers.
During the one-week campaign, which ran from July 13 to 19, officers issued 3,230 warnings and 1,839 citations to Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) drivers. Meanwhile, passenger car drivers received just 345 warnings and 665 citations for various unsafe driving behaviors.
In total, commercial drivers received 5,069 penalties and warnings, compared to just 1,010 for passenger car drivers. In practice, this means truck drivers received nearly five times more penalties.
A Major Shift in Focus Since 2020
However, this has not always been the case. Just compare the current year to 2020, when the results of “Operation Safe Driver Week” (as reported by Overdrive) showed that passenger car drivers received almost three times more warnings and citations than truck drivers. That year, a total of over 32,000 penalties and warnings were issued, indicating an activity level five times greater than in the latest edition.
The annual CVSA campaign engages road enforcement jurisdictions across North America. Services dedicate time and resources to monitoring driving behaviors such as speeding, distracted driving, and aggressive driving, which are major causes of accidents.
Key Categories and Penalties
This year’s focus was primarily on careless, reckless, and/or inattentive driving. Despite this focus, only 20 citations and 53 warnings were issued in this specific category. Commercial drivers received 12 citations and 47 warnings, while passenger car drivers received just 8 citations and 6 warnings.
As is typical, speeding was the most frequent offense, leading to a combined total of 1,249 warnings and 917 citations.
Here is a breakdown of the penalties in key categories:
| Offense | Commercial Drivers (CMV) | Passenger Vehicle Drivers |
| Speeding | 1,073 warnings / 491 citations | 176 warnings / 416 citations |
| Failure to Wear Seat Belt | 204 warnings / 248 citations | 15 warnings / 16 citations |
| Texting While Driving | 107 warnings / 79 citations | 22 warnings / 37 citations |
| Drugs/Alcohol | 14 warnings / 22 citations | 4 warnings / 5 citations |
As the data shows, in most cases, the overwhelming majority of penalties in key categories, including not wearing seat belts and using a cell phone while driving, fell upon commercial drivers.
Conclusion: Questions About Enforcement Proportions
The data from this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week is unambiguous: truck drivers received 5 times more warnings and citations than passenger car drivers (5,069 vs 1,010), which raises questions about the proportion of controls on the roads.
Although speeding remains the biggest problem, it is clear that officers are heavily focusing on the commercial industry—a distinct reversal of the trend seen in 2020. Many signs suggest that the campaign, intended to increase road safety, is becoming primarily a campaign targeted at professional truck drivers.
Safe and wide roads to you from All About Trucks & Translab! We put Truckers first!!
