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Advice from a Retired Truck Driver

In maritime law, the smaller, more maneuverable vehicle must give way to the larger, less agile vehicle. If we were to adhere to this law when driving on our highways, the accident rates between large commercial trucks and smaller vehicles would be reduced. In spite of the extensive preventive maintenance procedures followed by trucking companies and the diligent training of professional drivers, preventable accidents between trucks and smaller vehicles continue to happen. Here are ten safety measures you can observe while traveling in the vicinity of tractor-trailers that will ensure you will be neither the cause nor the victim of one of these accidents.

1. Give the truck room at all times. Do not tailgate. The size of the truck completely blocks your view so you must rely on the trailer tail light signals rather than your own forward vision to let you know if something dangerous is about to happen on the road in front of you. If you cannot see the truck driver in one of the large side mirrors, the truck driver cannot see you. The area directly behind the trailer is a blind spot for the driver and a danger zone for you.

2. When you come to a stop behind the truck, try to keep to the left of your lane so the driver can see you, and always leave room behind the truck to account for rollback. Starting from stop, a truck with a heavy load can roll back slightly when the driver moves his or her foot off the brake to depress the accelerator and release the clutch (an operation that requires both feet) before it begins to move forward.

3. In a passing situation, try to anticipate the flow of traffic before you pass so that you do not need to slow down after you pull in, then make sure you can see both of the truck's headlights in your rear-view mirror before you pull back into the lane in front of the truck. At 100 km/hr, a truck takes seven times longer than your vehicle to come to a complete stop. If you are in the safety cushion that professional drivers try to leave between the front of the truck and the vehicle being followed, the driver might not be able to avoid hitting you if an emergency stop is required. Also remember that trucks create wind gusts so keep both hands on the wheel to keep your vehicle from drifting until you are all the way past; in inclement weather, the wheels throw out spray that your windshield wipers may not be able to clear quickly and thus obscure your vision. While traveling beside the truck, you pass

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