Large trucks have a bit of a reputation for being “bullies” of sorts on the roads – but is this stereotype really warranted?
Semi-trucks and 18-wheelers need other drivers to keep a good distance away from them, not because they’re trying to hog the road, but because they have a very large blind spot.
Ignoring warnings to keep one’s distance from these trucks can result in a collision.
Truck drivers aren’t out to get involved in road accidents. That’s the last thing they want to do. All most truck drivers want is to get from point A to point B uneventfully.
But when they do end up in collisions, it’s often because other drivers have made bad decisions about cutting off or driving too close to these trucks.
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in the year 2013 alone, approximately 4,000 road accidents involving fatalities involved either big buses or large trucks.
With 72% of these incidents being a result of the drivers of cars as opposed to the large vehicle drivers themselves.
Basically, most of these accidents are caused by those driving the smaller cars!
Essentially, if you want to avoid becoming a part of the statistics, make sure you’re driving behind trucks at an appropriate distance.
Make sure you’re not speeding, and if you’re going to change lanes, do so safely and cautiously when it’s clear.
As an example of what could happen if you ignore these precautions, take a look at this video taken by the dash camera of a large 18-wheeler truck!
Things seem fine at first in this video. A black Nissan Altima switches into the lane of the large truck with no issue, giving the truck a good breadth of distance and making sure to only swap into the truck’s lane when it’s safe to do so.
It’s all going so well.
Then, a new car comes along and tries to swap into that lane, too.
This car is a Volkswagen and is attempting to cut into the space in front of this large semi-truck in order to avoid the slowness of tailing behind another large truck.
This, unfortunately, is a big mistake, as the space available in front of the 18-wheeler is designed to provide the driver with sufficient time to stop the truck if necessary.
The driver of the Volkswagen turns on his signal light, then, without checking to make sure it’s truly safe and the coast is clear, he starts to swerve his way into the 18-wheeler’s lane.
The truck driver immediately knows that this spells bad news, and you can hear him in the video complaining because he can see where this is going – and he can’t do anything to stop it.
Soon, the driver of the smaller car finds themselves stuck between the two trucks with nowhere to go.
What happens next is thankfully not a serious collision, as the truck driver pumped the brakes as soon as he could – but it still sends the other car screeching away.
Luckily, no one is hurt – but dangerous driving decisions such as these have the potential to end one’s life.
Please be safe on the road, especially around large vehicles!
