What You Can Do to Prevent Truck Accidents

Truck accidents are tragic events that often cause serious injuries or even claim lives, especially when a truck collides with a much smaller passenger vehicle. Part of the burden for reducing truck accidents falls on policymakers and regulatory agencies, which ought to be doing a better job of enforcing the rules that prevent accidents. But truck accident statistics show that both truck drivers and the drivers of surrounding passenger cars both contribute to a great number of crashes. So regardless of whether you’re a truck driver or a car driver, here are some things you can do to prevent truck accidents:

• Truck Drivers Can: Get Adequate Training

  Depending on your state, truck driver training may or may not be mandated to a certain level. But you should take that responsibility on yourself, getting as much professional training as possible. This will help you to control your truck in adverse conditions and reduce the likelihood of an accident.

• Car Drivers Can: Be Patient With Trucks

  Sharing the road with trucks can be frustrating, especially as they drive more slowly and make wide turns. But you should remember that trucking is a vital part of the American economy — it’s what makes it possible for you to have fresh produce at the grocery store in the middle of February, or products bought online delivered to your house just days later. Surely that means it’s worth giving trucks a little courtesy.

• Truck Drivers Can: Abide by Hours of Service

  If you’re working as a truck driver, you need to understand truck driver log requirements set in place by both state and federal laws. You are required to take breaks, just like most workers, and you must record those breaks in a physical or electronic log. These requirements are in place to prevent fatigue-related accidents, so don’t try to bend the rules.

• Car Drivers Can: Understand Blind Spots

  All car drivers know that trucks have blind spots. But you should take some time to educate yourself a little further; those blind spots are both more numerous and larger than you probably think. A general rule of thumb is that you should make sure you can see the driver in his or her driver-side mirror at all times.

• Truck Drivers Can: Demand Good Maintenance

  Depending on whether you’re working as a freelance contractor or an employee, you may have a greater or lesser degree of control over the rig you drive. But regardless, you need to make sure you’re demanding proper maintenance from whatever entity owns it (even if that’s you).

Do you have any other tips on how trucking accidents can be avoided? Share your ideas in the comments.

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