Every year it seems there are more commercial vehicles like big tractor trailers on the highway and it shows no signs of easing up. To stay safe when driving on the highway you really need to know as much as you can about how these big trucks operate. Lets take a look at some tips to help you stay safe on the road.
Sitting up high the drivers of these large commercial vehicles have a much better forward view but even with much larger side mirrors they have more blind spots than the typical driver does. You dont want to follow these big trucks in their blind spots. You have probably seen the stickers on the back of some trucks stating If you cant see my mirrors I cant see you and this is true.
Larger vehicles like these need much more time and distance for accelerating and braking as well as much wider turning room. If you are driving in front of a big truck like this you should signal your intentions to change lanes or an upcoming stop sooner than you would normally to be on the safe side and give the truck driver time to respond to your actions properly.
Another big issue and one that I personally get aggravated with is that of excessive spray from the tires of these large vehicles in rain, snow, and slush. I live in Florida and I can tell you that when it is raining traveling on the major highways used by large semi trucks is extremely dangerous and at times you can see nothing due to all of the spray from the big trucks. My advice is that if you dont absolutely have to be on the highway in those conditions stay off of it.
Not only do weather conditions affect visibility but so does time of day. Early morning and early evening hours can be dangerous as well when many people dont use their headlights properly. You also need to be cognizant of the fact that many truck drivers are also driving long hours and may be overtired so you need to be cautious around them.
Big trucks are a necessity in our society and will not being going away any time soon. We have to be extra careful when sharing the highway with these vehicles because as stated in many cases they cannot see us. |
