Tips to Drive Safely Around Trucks
Traffic accidents are not completely avoidable, no matter how observant and careful you are while driving.
Unfortunately, accidents between a truck and passenger vehicle are much more dangerous, due to the size and weight of the vehicle.
There are many precautions that you can take to help you to drive safely around trucks, and to reduce the chance of an accident happening.
The following are some tips to drive safely around trucks:
1. Be aware of the blind spots
Large vehicles have much larger blind-spot areas. While in a small car, you only have two blind spots.
Trucks have 4 blind spots. If you have never driven a large vehicle yourself, you may not even be aware when you are in a trucks blind-spot.
A good rule of thumb to follow is that if you cannot see their mirrors, assume that they can’t see you.
The blind spots are the following:
– Two feet in front of the truck between the window and the road
– Directly to the right of the truck off-centre
– To the left of the truck off-centre
– Behind the truck, up to nine feet away
2. Leave them room to turn
Trucks have to make wide turns. As a result, they may need extra room when turning. If a truck indicates that they are making a turn, give them the space they need.
3. Don’t follow closely
It is never a good idea to follow any vehicle closely. Keeping a safe distance between you and the truck is a good idea.
Consequently, as they won’t be able to see you while you are in a blind spot, they could make decisions while being unaware of your presence, like stopping suddenly.
4. Avoid cutting them off
Trucks are often slower than passenger cars, so you may want to overtake them. Overtaking is fine, but you must signal and maintain a consistent speed while passing.
Leave a good amount of distance between you and the truck before merging into the lane in front after overtaking.
5. Stay focused (Sleep well, avoid distractions)
Distracted driving can increase the chance of an accident. Anything that takes your full attention away from driving can be a distraction.
Some of the top distractions include: using your phone, talking to passengers, eating, drinking, changing the radio or smoking.
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