Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Operation Safe Driver Week, is slated for October 15 - 21.

A press release from MoDOT says law enforcement agencies throughout the country will engage in heightened traffic safety enforcement and educational outreach during the week. Enforcement personnel will identify and issue warnings and/or citations to commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers and passenger-vehicle drivers exhibiting unsafe driving behaviors on our roadways.

Some of the dangerous driving habits law enforcement will watch carefully for include speeding, distracted driving, texting, failure to use a safety belt while operating a CMV or in a passenger vehicle, traveling too closely, improper lane change, and failure to obey traffic control devices.

MoDOT says commercial motor vehicles (CMV) make up 20 percent of all traffic on Missouri’s interstates.

The press release states: When crashes involving tractor trailers occur, the disproportionate size of a truck versus a car means those crashes can often involve serious injuries or worse. There’s no room for taking chances around big trucks – they require extra room. “Human error accounts for over 90 percent of traffic crashes,” said Bill Whitfield, chair of the executive committee of the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety. “Please pay attention - buckle up and put your phone down.”

132 people were killed and 4,034 were injured in Missouri traffic crashes involving a CMV in 2016. MoDOT is offering some safety tips to keep in mind when sharing the road with a large vehicle.

- Don’t cut off large trucks or buses when passing. Make sure you can see the top of the truck or bus in your rearview mirror before moving back into your original lane.

- Stay out of the “No Zone.” Big trucks have large blind spots on either side and up to 200 feet behind a vehicle. Pass only on the left side. 

- Watch your following distance. Keep a 20-25 car length distance around trucks. Can you see the driver in the truck’s side mirrors? If not, the driver cannot see you.

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Aleksandra Glustsenko/ThinkStock
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