As the driver of a passenger vehicle, you know you’ll find yourself in close proximity to commercial trucks every so often. This is particularly true if you spend a lot of time driving on the highway.
You also know that truck drivers don’t always follow the rules of the road. From speeding to driving when drowsy, truckers often make mistakes that increase the likelihood of an accident.
You can’t control what a truck driver is doing, but you can definitely control what happens inside your vehicle. Here are a few things you can do to help prevent a truck accident:
- Make your vehicle is visible, which means avoiding driving in a trucker’s blind spot
- Be careful when changing lanes
- Never pass a truck in the right lane on the highway
- Take caution when merging into traffic
- Keep a safe following distance at all times
- If you must pull your vehicle to the side of the road, leave enough space for vehicles to comfortably pass
- Do your best to avoid driving between large commercial trucks
These are just a few of the many steps you can take to help prevent a truck accident.
If you do these things and still find yourself part of an accident, make sure you first focus on your health and safety. This means calling 911 so an ambulance arrives at the scene to provide treatment.
Once the accident is in the past, you can learn more about your legal rights. This entails many things, such as finding out who caused the accident, why the crash occurred and how to work with your insurance company.
Source: FindLaw, “Common Causes of Truck Accidents,” accessed March 23, 2018
