Speeding plays a major role in car crashes in California and around the country. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that it contributed to 94% of traffic crashes in 2015 and 26% of traffic fatalities in 2017, killing over 9,700 people that year. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, speeding has been behind more than a quarter of all traffic deaths since 2008.
Because of this, speeding will be the emphasis of 2019’s Operation Safe Driver Week, an annual event held by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. Held from July 14 to 20, the event will involve tens of thousands of law enforcement officials throughout North America looking out for speeders and other unsafe drivers. Those who are caught will be issued a citation or warning.
Besides speeders, police will be observing the roads for distracted, aggressive, and impaired drivers. They will also look for instances of improper lane changes, red light violations and seat belt neglect. Those who drive too closely to another vehicle may be stopped as well.
More than 110,000 motorists, both passenger vehicle drivers and CMV drivers, were stopped during 2018’s Operation Safe Driver Week. Police issued a total of 57,405 citations and 87,907 warnings with 18,817 of the citations being related to speeding.
Speeding-related truck accidents can be especially deadly, and the unfortunate thing is that it can be hard to deter truckers from this form of negligence. Truckers often feel pressured into speeding because they have deadlines and limits on how long they can be on the road. Occupants of other vehicles who have been injured in a crash caused by a speeding big rig driver might want to meet with an attorney in order to learn what remedies might be available.
