Highway patrol officers across 13 states are currently working together to target and combat unsafe driving behaviors that frequently result in accidents involving both passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

The state police departments of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky are taking part in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Operation SafeDRIVE, which aims to enforce laws related to distracted, reckless, impaired, and visibility-related driving.

Starting on Tuesday, February 28 and ending on Thursday, March 2, a specialized enforcement effort was put into action. The goal of this effort is to work in tandem with national education campaigns that aim to teach drivers how to safely share the road with large trucks.

The FMCSA has launched the regional SafeDRIVE initiative to address hazardous interstate driving habits such as speeding, tailgating, aggressive driving, driving under the influence, failing to wear a seatbelt, and distracted driving. As part of the campaign, state police commercial vehicle officers will open scale facilities to ensure that commercial drivers comply with safety regulations, including adhering to the hours of service rules, possessing the necessary commercial driver’s licenses, meeting medical certification requirements, and maintaining valid commercial motor vehicle credentials.

As part of the operation, the FMCSA and state police encourage all motorists to take the following advice:

  • Stay out of blind spots: Large trucks and buses have big blind spots on all four sides.
  • Pass safely: Make sure you can see the truck driver in their side mirror. Use your turn signals, and don’t linger in the blind spot. Make sure you can see the CMV vehicle in your rearview mirror before pulling in front.
  • Don’t cut off large vehicles: It takes a large truck traveling at highway speeds the length of two football fields to stop.
  • Don’t tailgate: Tailgating a commercial vehicle puts you in a blind spot.

Operation SafeDRIVE is aligned with a national initiative, “Our Roads, Our Safety,” led by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The goal of this nationwide campaign is to educate all drivers on the safe ways to share the roads with large trucks. Operation SafeDRIVE works in coordination with this national effort to enhance its impact and achieve its objectives.