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Drive Safe Around Big RigsRonald Porep, Republished from SafetyIssues.com Issue 23 |
Volume 4 Issue 43June 2005 |
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An American Automobile Association
(AAA) study involving passenger vehicles
(including cars, pickups, minivans and SUVs) and trucks estimates some
5,000 deaths and 140,000 injuries are caused by dangerous driving near
commercial trucks and tractor-trailers.Driving mistakes around trucks can have tragic consequences.
But you and your family can avoid being victims of Big Rigs.
How? Most importantly, do not drive around Big Rigs as you would around smaller vehicles. A University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute study found that drivers who get involved in fatal crashes drove the same way around trucks as they did around other cars. |
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The primary error the car drivers made
was NOT paying close attention to their driving. You can more easily
recover from a small error when driving around smaller vehicles – the
drivers of which can adapt faster to danger – than when around a Big Rig –
the drivers of which require much more road and time to avoid danger due
to the sheer size of their vehicles. Attention wandering is thus more
dangerous around Big Rigs. Specifically, paying close attention to your driving means you do not wander out of your lane or off the road. If you are tired, pull off the road and rest. If you are under the influence, find a place to stay and sober up. Those are the two main reasons people wander off the road or out of their lanes. Go to sleep driving near a Big Rig and you may never wake up. Paying attention also means instantly obeying all traffic signs and signals. You can not wait to get into the right lane when construction blocks the lane you are in with a Big Rig on your tail. And paying attention to your driving means obeying the speed limit as well as driving the proper speed for the condition of the road you are on. Of course, if the road is hazardous, you should hold up somewhere for a while until the hazardous condition clears up. I have never seen the logic of traveling in an ice storm just to get to your vacation spot on time. You will enjoy your vacation a lot more late but alive. Of course, you should yield the right of way unless you wish to argue with a Big Rig with your life and the lives of your loved ones as the cost for losing. And, avoid driving beside a Big Rig or tailgating one. If you can not see the Big Rig driver in your rearview mirror, he can not see you. If you are too close to the rear end of a Big Rig, a fatal accident might occur due to some bad maneuver the trucker or a vehicle in front of him makes. Stay alive by treating Big Rigs with respect ! |
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