Drivers of cars do not like truckers – and it’s mutual.
In an accident with a truck, a typical passenger car has almost no chance: if 40 tons are behind it, the car will fold up like a tin can. And also often there is a situation, when a car in the “blind” zone of a truck, when turning, just grabs it like a feather, turns around and carries it to the oncoming side.
Understand that the driver of the truck does not see you
In the course of the following accident case in Fort Myers, when the car was driving in the next lane and the truck started swerving right into it, the public in the forums gets confused. Like how so, he (the truck driver) has so many mirrors!
Indeed, mirrors on large trucks are large, arranged in two rows. But they do not help to see.
Remember, and tell it to your fellow drivers:
- the truck’s blind spot is three meters forward and five meters back along the side.
- Almost the whole right side of majority of vans is out of driver’s sight.
In other words, you can hide four cars on the sides of the truck and put one more just under the cabin – and the truck driver will not see them.
How does this happen? Very simple. In the mirrors, the truck driver sees only what’s at his eye level – not lower.
Put a stool next to your car at the level of the rear wheel on different sides and behind the car in the center and try to see it from your driver’s seat.
Similarly, a trucker can’t see a passenger car: a low car just doesn’t get in the field of view.
Yes, there are additional mirrors, but they are not intended for “blind” zones control, but for parking convenience, so they are adjusted just for maneuvering. Besides they are spherical – even if a truck driver notices something in them, they are distorted.
Now let’s simulate the situation in Fort Myers.
The truck driver is driving and staying in the middle lane. Often – in bad weather in Fort Myers, when the mirrors are splashed with rain and mud, or in bright sunlight, or at night, where visibility is impeded by the xenon headlights of oncoming cars.
Approaching the exit, he turns on the “turn signal”, waits a couple of minutes, no one honks – and starts to change to the right.
And at this very moment, on the right side of the road, a car driver is amazed at the “impudence” of a truck to enter his busy lane, and thinks something like this: “The trucker will not stick in my occupied lane. And therefore, seeing the signal “turn signals”, does not react.
The result is an accident. Consequences depend on additional conditions of the problem. After this, you will definitely need a Fort Myers Truck Accident Lawyer.
How to stay out of the truck blind spot in Fort Myers
Never stop directly behind a truck at an intersection in Fort Myers, for example. When you’re standing clearly in the center, the driver can’t see you – the passenger car is completely hidden behind the sides of the truck. If the truck driver suddenly backs up, there will be an accident. Stand so that you can be seen, shift a little to the left.
Never try to stick your nose in front of a truck in traffic in Fort Myers to let the driver pass you: there is a blind spot under the cab!
Always slow down when pulling a truck out of a minor lane into the lane you are driving in: the driver may not see you.
If you see that a truck is going to change lane or overtake you, always pass, do not hope to pass! Two tons are easier to stop than forty.
Never overtake a truck on the right and generally try not to drive near a truck on the right. In general, try not to drive behind or next to trucks, but if you do, show up more often – shift to the right or left (better left) so that the truck driver sees you and takes you into account.
Being on the side or behind a truck, overlap or overtake, but do not hang on the tail or the side.
- Overtake on the left. Before overtaking, signal repeatedly with your turn signals or high beams, and make the maneuver as quickly as possible.
- After overtaking do not cut the truck, move away from the truck at a distance of about 10 cars – the truck driver does not see the passenger car directly under the cab either.
- No way to overtake in Fort Myers? Increase your distance to the truck, pull away to a safe distance.
- Remember: if you can see the driver’s face in his side mirror, he can probably see you. And vice versa. Before you make a maneuver, do this simple test, try to see the face of the truck driver in his mirror on the left.
Never go around a truck that is braking or turning. The moment the trailer is turned, it obscures the view of the tractor driver altogether.
If the truck starts to move into your lane, it is not his, but your problem: you did not get away in time, did not realize that you are in the blind spot. You can be right according to traffic rules – and in a ditch or oncoming, after meeting with “inattentive” truck driver. Save yourself. Hit the horn, move to the right or to the side of the road, slow down: anything, but avoid the accident!
Practice reading the traffic in Fort Myers and predict the course of events in advance. Has the truck driver taken the right lane and is an exit about to occur? Ditch the right lane or fall behind at a safe distance.
Understand that a truck driver will not brake
Truck drivers only apply the brakes in an emergency situation.
The fact is that if the driver applies emergency braking, the truck is likely to fold like a scissor. Several other cars would be hit by the trailer.
Or the trailer with the load will go forward and crush the cab and the driver along with it. Or the trailer and the truck will tip over, the cargo will be damaged, and the driver will pay for it half his life.
That’s why truck drivers don’t brake sharply: it’s a reflex, and the life of a trucker depends on it.
How not to get run over by a truck
The most stupid thing you can do is to try to “teach” a truck, to get right in front of it in the gap, which is specially kept by the trucker, or to overtake the truck on a slope and brake right under the nose.
There may not be enough braking distance for a truck, and emergency braking is prohibited in Fort Myers.
A very dangerous situation is when the driver of a passenger car overlaps right in front of a truck, and then is forced to brake sharply because of a pedestrian or a red light. And there’s not another car behind him that can also be stopped in an emergency, but 40 tons – and they all fly straight into the car.
When you’re forced to pull over in an emergency brake, and a truck is freezing up behind you, you can’t just wait for the junction.
- If possible, drive away to the side or straight ahead.
- If a pedestrian is ahead – signal him, this is his chance to survive.
- If a collision is inevitable – press the brake pedal, put your head against the headrest, put your hands on the steering wheel at 3 and 9 o’clock, so they won’t be broken by a shot out cushion.
