How to Share the Road Safely with BIG TRUCKS

 If you've driven on America's highways for awhile, you know how important it is to share the road safely with the big rigs. Nothing will spoil your day (or end your life faster) than a tangle with these oversized behemoths. So buckle up....this may be a long article.

It's easy to place the blame on truck drivers for accidents involving big trucks and passenger vehicles. And in many cases, the blame falls squarely on the truck driver's shoulders...a truck driver fails to check his mirror and moves over a lane, plowing a car off the road. Or he may misjudge the "off track" of his trailer(s) and re-arrange the sheet metal on a Volkswagen in the process. But some accidents are caused by the drivers of passenger vehicles who don't take a big truck's inertia,  size, and limitations into account. This article is designed to make drivers aware of the road AS A TRUCK DRIVER SEES IT, and hopefully make drivers aware of how their own actions can cause or prevent a disastrous accident. It is not intended as an excuse for lousy truck drivers.

 Damn! Here comes your exit, and you were daydreaming. You jam the brake pedal and crank the wheel to the right, trying to get into the right lane in time to swing off the exit ramp. You hear a brief screech of tires on pavement before you're slammed off the road by the big rig in the right lane, accompanied by the sound of crunching metal.
I've seen this many times....a passenger vehicle makes a sudden lane change and ends up "in the bucwheat", as we say in the trucking biz.
Some big trucks, like tankers, can weigh as much as 110,000 pounds. Surely you didn't think they could slow down by 30 MPH in 2 seconds to accommodate your sudden lane change? That would be like stopping a Boeing 747 in 75 feet on an airport runway.

I can't stress this enough: big trucks need ALOT of distance to slow down or stop. I realize that drivers of passenger vehicles are blind to this fact, because their mind has a hard time grasping the actual weight of a big truck.

Look at it this way: let's say your SUV weighs 4200 pounds. The unladen (empty) weight of a truck and trailer is about 30,000 pounds. Add to that the weight of the cargo...let's say 40,000 pounds of dog food, or bottled water, or furniture. That's SEVENTY THOUSAND POUNDS of hell on wheels....or 16.66 times the weight of the SUV you're driving. Try stopping the weight of SIXTEEN of your vehicles when you're cut off in traffic, and you'll begin to appreciate the responsibility that a truck driver faces every day.

Here's the bottom line...in order to react to sudden changes in his driving lane, a truck driver needs 10 TIMES the distance that you need to slow down or stop your car. This distance increases exponentially when driving in adverse conditions like slick roads or poor visibility. Take this into account when making sudden stops, or abrupt speed or lane changes.

 Undoubtedly, you've watched as a big truck was making a right turn at a traffic light, and the vehicles on the adjacent corner had to back up in order to allow the truck to make the swing. This is because of the "off-track" of longer vehicles; the rear-most wheels don't follow the same track as the front-most wheels when turning.
As the driver of a passenger vehicle, we always want to crowd up to the white line at a light, and that's just human nature. We want to be ready to stomp the gas pedal when the light changes and be on our way. But what about that truck with the right turn signal on? He needs to swing wide in order to miss the curb on his right, and if you're too close to the white line, he'll be nose-to-nose with your car as he tries to turn. What happens then?

He can't move.
You can't move.

In a case like this, did you gain any time by crowding the white line? Nope. The light changes to green, and it's a stalemate. One of you has to give way by backing up. And while turning right, the truck driver probably will not be able to see the vehicles behind HIM, so he won't back up. If you pull up to a trafic light and see a truck waiting to turn right, stop short of the white line. Or check behind you (of course), and if it's clear, back up a few feet.

 No, you're not required to. You won't get arrested for not being courteous. On the other hand, you COULD be stuck at that intersection for 10 minutes until someone cries uncle, in which case that 10 feet that you insisted upon using at the intersection will seem like small beans.
In fact, it's a good idea to give big trucks a bit of "swing-space" whenever you see one turning.

 You may have seen the commercials..."Don't Hang Out In The No Zone". They were run on TV a few years ago. The No Zone usually refers to a truck driver's blind spot as you are positioned on the right side of the truck. Most vehicles have a blind spot...the area in a driver's rear-view mirror where he cannot see a vehicle traveling beside him.
In the case of a lane change, truck drivers are instructed to turn their signal on, wait 7 seconds while checking their mirrors, and then begin a gradual lane change. This usually gives a vehicle in the truck driver's blind spot enough time to see the signal and either drop back or speed up in order to make their vehicle visible to the truck driver. And yes, some truck drivers see a clear lane in their mirror, turn their signal on, and begin moving over. As I stated, this isn't a blame-the-passenger-car-driver forum; it's an article that will hopefully save your life one day by helping you to drive safely in the presence of big trucks.

One of the cardinal rules that is taught in every driving school is MAKE SURE THE OTHER DRIVER CAN SEE YOU. This is especially important when sharing the road with big trucks, and truck drivers should live by the same rules. If a truck is passing you, don't make the driver work for every inch to get by you. Decelerate to allow the truck to pass; the most dangerous place to be on the road is on the right hand side of a big truck.

If you're in a truck's blind spot, and you see their signal come on to move into your lane, do your best to get out of the way. Drop back to get behind the truck, speed up to get ahead, or if you feel like you don't have time to do either, flash your headlights on and off or bright to dim. At a time like this, assigning blame is useless. It may be the truck driver's fault for failing to check his mirrors correctly, but you'll be just as dead if you're pushed off an embankment because the truck driver didn't see you. Drive defensively!

Rain. Night driving. Snow. Sleet. All of these things can affect YOUR ability to see and drive safely. Some nights, while driving in nasty weather in my pickup, I thank God that I'm not driving a big rig. But imagine if you were?

Here's where stopping distance comes into play (in spades). Contrary to popular belief, the visibility isn't any better over the hood of a big rig than over the hood of your Jeep. In bad weather, a big truck will require alot more stopping distance than on dry roads. And EVERYONE who is on the road during these times is counting on every driver around them to make good decisions about driving in adverse conditions.

 Here's a good way to think about it: in adverse weather conditions, each driver is responsible for their own decisions and for at least 5 seconds of decision time for the vehicle behind him. As you're driving in bad weather, ask yourself- if I had to stop NOW, could the driver behind me stop as well? If not, adjust your speed accordingly. Move over and let the vehicle behind you pass if it will give you a safer following distance. If a big truck is following you, and you feel he's following you too closely for the weather conditions, then slow down and let the truck pass. Better to lose a few seconds of time than risk a disaster.

Hopefully these tips will help keep you safe while sharing the road with the big trucks. Happy motoring!