A 14-state speed trap: Where enforcement is most prominent

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Updated Jul 7, 2023
14 state speed trap
Catch the infographic illustrating the distribution of states putting a high priority on speeding enforcement below.

Updated June 29, 2023, to reflect 2022 Operation Safe Driver results -- the 2023 Operation Safe Driver blitz takes place July 9-15.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance of truck-enforcement jurisdictions around the country and federal enforcement and trucking industry representatives typically stages its annual traffic enforcement event, Operation Safe Driver, in July. The enforcement effort in 2020 responded to what some called a veritable epidemic in speed-related fatality crashes all around the nation during and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. That's across all vehicle types but, anecdotally among truckers, particularly evident in witnessed reckless behavior by garden variety motorists that continued through this update. 

Following the 2020 Operation Safe Driver event, CVSA reported about three times as many warnings and citations issued to passenger vehicle drivers as to truckers during the event, the largest category of violation being speeding. The 2021 event proceeded similarly, with more than 9,000 citations issued to passenger-vehicle drivers and just around 3,000 to professional truckers. In 2022 when speeding was again the focus, more than 7,000 passenger-vehicle drivers were cited for speeding, with just 1,490 professionals cited. (Operation Safe Driver is unique among CVSA-promoted enforcement initiatives in focusing not just on truckers' compliance with safety regs and state laws governing operation on the roadways, but also passenger-vehicle drivers' behavior around trucks.)  

When it comes to moving violations issued to truckers, though raw numbers have tended to decline with officer staff in recent years, 2022 was an outlier with a rise, and the long-term upward trend of greater and greater percentages of violations indicating enforcement focused on driver behavior is continuing. Speeding violations are always the biggest single contributor to those numbers.

14 state speed trap  

Find further resources related to the Level 3 driver-only inspection often conducted attendant to a traffic stop, fighting tickets where justified and more related to roadside enforcement via the following links to past coverage: 

**Another reason to fight those traffic tickets: Convictions can now impact your safety rating
**Fighting tickets, with or without legal help
**Surviving a Level 3 driver inspection
**Don't forget DataQs to clear your PSP/CSA record
**Refresher on the out-of-service violations for hours of service
**Much more from our CSA's Data Trail section