I’ve been a mother trucker for 25 years now.Wow, has it been that long! I need to be careful,I’m about to expose my age here… Well anyway I though I might share some safety rules with you.I know safety rules are boring.Who wants to read a bunch of safety rules?
I didn’t think I would see hands fly up but bare with me and PLEASE read on this might save your live or a love one’s. Or at least keep ya from getting hurt.
When you go to get your license the test is just a bunch of safety rules that are suppose to keep you and the other drivers safe out there.They want you to learn to parallel park(which I try to avoid at all cost.Hate to do it!) learn the road signs and other stuff that I don’t have to tell you about because you’ve been driving for awhile and you already know.So I would like to share with you some things that they don’t teach you.That is just as important to keep you and your family safe around big trucks.
Let’s start with driving behind big trucks.Big trucks don’t have rear view mirrors.If they did it wouldn't do any good anyway since the trailer would block any view that we might have.We depend on the side mirrors.So if you are riding so close that you can’t see us in our side mirrors then we can’t see you!
Why would this be so important? Well,we constantly watch everything around us to keep us and four-wheelers safe.(That’s what us truck drivers call you that drive cars.)No disrespect, your vehicle only has for wheels.If you’re to close and traffic suddenly slows or comes to a sudden stop it could result in a tail gate accident or worse if the truck jack-knifes you could be caught up in a major accident.Also if we lose a re-cap,you know those big rubber pieces of tire that litter the roadways at times.(We call these pieces of tire “gators”)They can tear up the underside of your car if you run over them or even go through your windshield if your to close.So stay back so you will have enough time to respond if any of this happens.Good rule of thumb is when the vehicle in front of you passes a stationary object like a sign or mile marker count: One-One Hundred,Two One Hundred,Three One Hundred.If you have caught up or passed your stationary marker then you're following to close.
Same goes for driving beside a big truck for a long length of time.Try to get clear of the side of the truck as soon as possible when passing.Don’t linger we have blind spots too and we might have to avoid trouble ahead and need to get over.(Like those gators!)
I like to leave a good amount of space between myself and the car in front of me.(You wont catch this Mother Trucker tailgating.) But its almost impossible because when you leave a gap, its like an invitation for someone to jump over in front of you.Try not to fill in those gaps in front of the truckers it takes us so much longer to stop than it does you! We really need the extra space!
Here is a site that you can find more info if you want.I put some of what I've been talking about below if you don't want to visit the site.
Allow plenty of room when changing lanes in front of a truck.
• Pass trucks quickly and don’t linger beside a truck.
• Pass a truck on the left, not on the right, because the truck's blind spot on the right runs the length of the trailer and extends out three lanes.
• Allow a lot of room around trucks. Try to leave a 10-car length gap when in front of a truck and 20-25 car lengths when behind a truck.
• Check a truck's mirrors. If you are following a truck and you cannot see the driver's face in the truck's side mirrors, the truck driver cannot see you.
• Allow trucks adequate space to maneuver. Trucks make wide turns at intersections and require additional lanes to turn.
Please Be Safe!
Now go out there and have a great Labor Day week-end!!
I wish you great bar-b-que’s and fun this coming holiday!
Keep on Truckin!
The Mother Trucker
