phone
contact us today! (847) 357-0403

5 Defensive Driving Tips for Sharing the Road With Trucks

Defensive Driving Tips for Cars Made Simple

Commercial trucks cause thousands of fatal crashes each year. Unfortunately, the much smaller and lighter passenger cars take the brunt of the impact. Defensive driving can reduce your chance of getting in a trucking accident while on the road. But most of us are only prepared to handle difficult situations involving other cars. These defensive driving tips can help you share the road safely with trucks, helping you avoid catastrophic accidents.

Be Aware

When sharing the road with trucks, you have to be aware of your surroundings and other drivers on the road. Trucks take up more road space. They also have slower breaking distances and more significant blind spots. As a result, accidents involving trucks tend to involve cars colliding at greater impacts. Always be aware when driving. Don’t try to multitask, and keep your eye on the horizon. If you’re driving behind trucks, give them enough distance so you can safely keep your eye on them and other drivers at the same time.

Travel at a Safe Speed

Trucks weigh much more than passenger cars and require greater distances to come to a stop. So it’s important to give trucks more than enough space. Driver fatigue is a leading cause of fatal accidents involving trucks. After being on the road for several hours, truck drivers can lose focus or even fall asleep at the wheel. No matter how safe you are, unless you have a sufficient distance between you and the truck, it will be very difficult to come to a stop or get out of the way of a truck that has lost control.

Stay Visible

Staying out of truck blind spots will significantly reduce your chance of getting in an accident. But truck blind spots are much larger than those of cars. Stay more than 30 feet ahead of or behind trucks at all times. Blind spots on trucks are typically two lanes to the side on the passenger side and one lane to the side on the driver side. So don’t travel in lanes immediately next to a truck or travel well ahead or behind.

Work with a seasoned Arlington Heights trucking accident attorney if you’ve been involved in an accident with a truck. These cases require a thorough knowledge of both state and federal transportation laws and experience filing claims against truckers and trucking companies. But involve an attorney as soon as you can, as there is a limited window of time in which to collect and preserve valuable evidence that could make or break your claim.

R.F. Wittmeyer

Contact Us Today