Operation Safe Driver Week, an initiative to enhance road safety, is underway and will continue until July 13, 2024. This week-long event sees law enforcement personnel focusing on identifying and addressing unsafe driving behaviors among passenger vehicle drivers and commercial motor vehicle operators.
The Prosper Police Department shared this important initiative on their Facebook page, emphasizing its significance for community safety.
The initiative, spearheaded by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), seeks to improve driving habits through educational outreach and stringent traffic enforcement. Officers will monitor for risky behaviors throughout the week, including speeding, distracted driving and seat belt violations. Drivers caught engaging in such behaviors will be pulled over and may receive citations or warnings.
A key aspect of Operation Safe Driver Week is educating young drivers about safely sharing the road with larger vehicles like trucks and buses. Additionally, the initiative offers educational programs for commercial drivers and carriers, aiming to increase compliance with motor vehicle regulations and promote safer driving practices.
The official website emphasizes the necessity of these initiatives, highlighting its importance through troubling statistics. Speeding has been a factor in over a quarter of crash deaths since 2008 and was the most frequent driver-related crash factor for both commercial and passenger vehicles. In 2018 alone, speeding contributed to 26% of all traffic fatalities, resulting in 9,378 deaths, or more than 25 deaths per day. Distracted driving claimed 3,142 lives in 2019, highlighting the ongoing dangers of inattentive driving.
Seat belt use remains another focal point of the initiative. In 2019, 47% of the 22,215 passenger vehicle occupants killed were not wearing seat belts. In contrast, seat belts saved an estimated 14,955 lives in 2017, with an additional 2,549 lives that could have been saved had seat belts been used.
Drunk driving remains a major concern as well. In 2019, drunk-driving crashes resulted in 10,142 deaths, equating to one person every 52 minutes. This staggering statistic underscores the importance of continuous efforts such as Operation Safe Driver Week to combat impaired driving.
For more information on this initiative, visit Operation Safe Driver’s website.
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