The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has an upcoming event that all drivers in California, including truck and bus drivers, should know about. July 14 to 20 has been designated this year as the CVSA’s Operation Safe Driver Week, a period of intense nationwide enforcement of traffic laws.
Police will be stopping any unsafe drivers, including distracted, aggressive or impaired drivers, and issuing either warnings or citations. They will be looking for any violations of traffic law like failure to wear a seatbelt, improper lane changes and failure to obey traffic signals. Most importantly, they will be monitoring the roads for speeding. The CVSA’s message is to be, “Late won’t kill you, speeding will.”
Speeding is the focus of this year’s event because of its prominent role in traffic crashes. 94% of such crashes involved speeding in 2015, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. Over the past two decades, speeding has contributed to nearly one-third of all traffic fatalities.
Traffic violation enforcement does have a positive effect on car crash reduction, the CVSA claims. A 2014 study found that “Click It or Ticket,” for example, has helped reduce car crash rates by 11%. With 57,405 citations and 87,907 warnings issued last year, Operation Safe Driver Week may produce similarly positive results.
When speeding contributes to an accident, victims may feel they have a valid case under car accident law. They might want a lawyer to assess the case, though, especially in light of California’s comparative negligence rule. If retained, the lawyer may hire crash investigators to prove that the defendant was speeding. The lawyer might then negotiate for a settlement that covers medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering and other losses. If the auto insurance company refuses to pay out, victims may litigate.