WASHINGTON...Reckless and aggressive driving behaviors significantly contribute to approximately 43,000 people that die on U.S. highways each year – 5,000 of which involve large trucks. To curb the number of deadly crashes on our most dangerous highways, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), 14 Southeastern states, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) conducted a 24-hour enforcement blitz on February 28, 2008. Called Operation Safe Driver, the principal objective was to target problem drivers – both those who drive commercial vehicles and those who drive passenger vehicles. During the event there were 840 law enforcement officers and FMCSA personnel operating at 355 locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

  "Operating a motor vehicle safely demands every driver's strict attention," said John H. Hill, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.  "Poor decisions by drivers such as tailgating, speeding, cutting off other vehicles or making sudden lane changes account for a majority of fatal crashes.  Commercial drivers and passenger vehicle drivers have a responsibility to share the road safely with each other."

  "We take problem drivers very seriously. Operation Safe Driver recognizes the importance that law enforcement places on traffic safety and the need to protect the motoring public from dangerous behaviors on our highways," Said Capt. George Gray of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol who organized the one-day blitz.

 The following outlines significant results:

·        5,374 CMV Driver/Credential Inspections, 821 (15.3%) of which resulted in the driver being placed out of service;

·        4,102 CMV Driver Traffic Enforcement Contacts, which resulted in 960 moving violations (0.23 violations per contact);

·        2,183 Non-CMV Driver Traffic Enforcement Contacts, which resulted in 1,343 moving violations (0.62 violations per contact); and,

·        5,008 CMV Driver License checks and 1,967 Non-CMV Driver License checks.

CVSA member jurisdictions and their partners also performed educational activities, including distributing brochures and posters that illustrate what can happen when passenger and commercial vehicles collide and what drivers can do to take preventative measures. These materials can be viewed at http://cvsa.stores.yahoo.net/opsadrouma.html.

 CVSA is an international not-for-profit organization comprised of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal motor carrier safety officials and industry representatives from the United States, Canada and Mexico. Our mission is to promote commercial motor vehicle safety and security by providing leadership to enforcement, industry and policy makers. In addition, CVSA has several hundred associate members who are committed to helping the Alliance achieve its goals; uniformity, compatibility and reciprocity of commercial vehicle inspections, and enforcement activities throughout North America by individuals dedicated to highway safety and security. For more on CVSA visit www.cvsa.org.