Posted On:
March 28, 2009
Reminders for Driving Near Trucks
The Tennessee Injury Lawyer Blog has a blog post that discusses the dangers of trucks on the road. According to this post, nearly 4,000 accidents have occurred in Tennessee that resulted in "serious bodily injury or death" to the people in the other vehicle because of trucks.
The blog post has these suggestions to keep in mind when driving near trucks:
Truckers Have Large Blind spots. Truckers have gaping blind spots around the front, back, and sides of the truck. When cars are in these blind spots, the trucker can’t see them. Truckers Make Wide turns. Truckers often have to swing wide to the left to make a right turn. If a car attempts to go between the truck and the curb, the driver may get squeezed by the tractor-trailer. Truckers Require Longer Stopping Distances. If there is a sudden stop on the highway, tractor-trailers may not have enough stopping distance to prevent a rear-end collision due to their heavier weight.
Some factors that contribute to truck accidents are also included:
Driver fatigue, long hours and unrealistic schedules. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) blames driver fatigue as a probable factor in 20 to 40% of truck crashes. • Intoxicated driving. The NTSB recently reported that one or more drugs was detected in 67% of fatally injured truck drivers. • Driver error. When operators fail to adhere to speed limits set for trucks, the likelihood of a jackknife or rollover significantly increases. • Substandard inspection. According to the FMCSA, there were over 2 million roadside inspection violations last year alone.
We should certainly let this serve as a reminder to be extra careful when driving near trucks!
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