How to Share the Road Safely with Big Rigs

In an accident with larger vehicles, occupants in smaller vehicles sustain 78% of fatalities. You can cut your odds of becoming one of those statistics by becoming acquainted with the limitations drivers have in operating big rigs.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Common sense
• A willingness to drive defensively

1. Limitation #1: Inability to stop as quickly as smaller vehicles. Size, weight, and even the type of brakes that big rigs have differ considerably from cars and small trucks. Together these factors make it difficult for the larger trucks to stop as quickly as your smaller vehicle. In fact, a fully loaded truck can weigh up to 80,000 pounds and take the length of a football field to stop. Things you should do: • Keep a safe distance. • Merge properly into traffic (without causing a truck to maneuver or brake quickly). • Do not change lanes abruptly in front of a truck. • Do not pass with insufficient headway.
2. Limitation #2: A large number of blind spots. The larger trucks have more blind spots than you do in your smaller vehicle. In these blind spots, you can completely disappear from the driver’s view. These are the blind spots, and what you should do to safely navigate them: • For 30 feet directly behind the trailer. Stay back at least 20-25 car lengths. • To the left. Pass in your lane quickly so that the time the driver can not see you is minimal. You can safely change lanes when you see both of the truck’s headlights in your rearview mirror. Do not pass a truck within one mile of your exit as there is not enough time to execute this move safely. It is better to hang back and wait for your exit to arrive. • To the right, the blind spot runs the length of the trailer and extends out three lanes. Never pass on the right. If you are in this blind spot, drive through quickly so the driver can see you again. • In front. Leave four car lengths between you and the truck behind you. A good rule-of-thumb: If you can’t see the driver’s face in the side mirrors, he or she can’t see you.
3. Limitation #3: An inability to turn as sharply as smaller vehicles. When trucks make turns especially in urban areas where space is limited, they must take up more than one lane of the road. The size and articulated nature of their vehicles leave them no choice but to do this. Be aware when you see a truck signal for a right-hand turn that it will need extra space to safely negotiate that turn. Do no attempt to cut in between the curb and the truck. You will find yourself in a serious situation: • Because of the truck’s blind spots, the driver can not see you. • You will be stuck with no place to go. • A serious accident can ensue. Another tip to remember is to stop behind the white line at intersections. This will give the driver of a big rig plenty of room to make left-hand turns.

Tips & Warnings

• Cut the driver some slack. Most over-the-road truckers are gone from home, family and friends for weeks at a time. They live out of the cab of their trucks. That means they eat, sleep, and spend their free time in a room smaller than a jail cell. Days are spent dealing with the drone of driving hour after hour in areas of the country that are unfamiliar to them. Under these conditions, a little courtesy from other drivers is a welcome relief.
• With a little courtesy and respect for the limitations of larger vehicles, we all can share the road with safer results.
• In an accident involving a smaller vehicle and a big rig, chances are the occupants of the smaller vehicle will be seriously injured or killed. Is it worth the edge you think you might gain by making a risky move near a big rig?