Sharing the road with trucks can be challenging. Maybe you have had sheets of water thrown up at you as one passed you at speed. Perhaps you’ve felt a gush of wind knock you off course as the trailers pass. Or maybe you’ve just seen a carcass of a blown truck tire in the middle of the road and pictured how catastrophic it might have been if the blowout occurred right in front of you.
A collision with a truck is highly likely to result in severe injuries to you and anyone else in your vehicle. The following tips can improve your odds of avoiding a wreck:
Keep your distance, whenever possible
The best way to reduce the chance that a truck injures you is to give it lots of space. Truck drivers need more space than the average vehicle because the sheer size of the rig makes it less maneuverable.
The driver may have to swing in the wrong direction to make a tight turn in the other direction, for example. Or, if they need to brake, they’ll require a far greater stopping distance than you would in your car.
Learn more about a truck’s blind spots
A lot of drivers make the mistake of sitting in one of a truck’s blind spots. While cars also have blind spots, those of trucks are much more extensive. They can extend across two lanes to the right of the driver, across one lane to the left of them, 30 feet behind them and 20 feet in front of them. Staying well clear of those blind spots reduces the chance that a truck driver makes a maneuver that injures you because they didn’t know you were there.
Taking these precautions can reduce the risk of a collision, but it can’t eradicate it. If you are injured by a truck, be sure to learn how best to claim compensation.