July 14 to 20 is when the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance will hold its annual Operation Safe Driver Week. This is to be a period of increased enforcement of traffic laws, so both truck and passenger vehicle drivers in Ohio will want to make sure they are being safe on the road. As a deterrent, police will be ready to issue citations.
Some of the dangerous driving behaviors that police will be looking for are distracted driving (especially calling and texting), impaired driving, aggressive driving, seat belt neglect, improper lane changing and the ignoring of traffic control devices. Speeding will be the number one focus of this year’s event.
In 2018, the event ended with 57,405 citations and 87,907 warnings being issued. Of those citations, 18.817 were for speeding: 16,909 in passenger vehicles and 1,908 in CMVs. A total of 51,000 law enforcement officers across North America stopped 113,331 drivers during the event.
According to the 2016 Large Truck and Bus Facts, released by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, speeding is the most frequently cited driver-related factor in car and CMV crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that in 2017, speeding contributed to a total of 9,717 traffic deaths: about 26% of all traffic deaths in that year.
Many truckers speed in order to meet deadlines, and when they cause a truck accident as a result of their negligence, their company may be held liable for others’ injuries. Victims, for their part, may want to consult with an attorney because it can be hard to file an accident claim on one’s own. The trucking company will have its own legal team fighting to deny payment or to get victims to agree to a low-ball settlement, but an attorney may evade these tactics.
