Sharing the Road with Trucks
There's good news and bad news about highway safety concerning cars and big trucks.
First the bad news:
More than 200,000 crashes involving at least one passenger car and one large truck happen each year.
In more than 60% of all fatal crashes involving autos and big trucks, police report that the auto driver rather than the truck driver contributed to the cause of the crash.
Most crashes involving automobiles and trucks occur in daylight on straight and dry pavement under good weather conditions.
Because trucks are so much bigger and heavier than cars, the driver of the car, not the truck, is killed in a fatal car-truck collision four out of five times.
Now, the good news:
Many of these crashes could be avoided if motorists knew about truck limitations and how to steer clear of unsafe situations involving trucks. That's exactly what this article is designed to do - help you understand the differences between cars and trucks so you can improve your road sharing skills and help reduce ca-truck crashes.
Remember, Trucks Don't Drive Like Cars
Seems obvious, doesn't it? But the fact that while most people realize that it's more difficult to drive a truck than a car, many people don't know exactly what a truck's limitations are in terms of maneuverability, stopping distances, and blindspots. So here's a handy rule of thumb -
Generally speaking, the bigger they are:
The bigger their blindspots.
The more room they need to maneuver.
The longer it takes them to stop.
The longer it takes to pass them.
The more likely you're going to be the loser in a collision.
[Reprinted from a Federal Highway Administration brochure entitled, "Don’t Hang Out in the No-Zone"]