Large trucks and buses face unique safety challenges. The following tips can help truck and bus drivers make a plan for road safety.
Check mirrors every 8-10 seconds to be aware of vehicles entering your blind spots. Additionally, scan ahead on the road for about 15 seconds (equating to a quarter mile on interstates, or one to two blocks in cities) for traffic issues, work zones, and other dangers.
Bicyclists and pedestrians experience unique safety challenges. They lack protection in a crash, travel slower than motor vehicles, and are hard for drivers to see – particularly truck and bus drivers. The following tips will help bicyclists and pedestrians make a plan for sharing our roads safely.
Large vehicles have huge blind spots, making it difficult for drivers to see bicyclists and pedestrians. Avoid riding or walking behind a truck or bus that is backing up; drivers often cannot see directly behind their vehicle.
Due to their size and height, semi trucks and buses have several large blind spots where a car or small truck will virtually “disappear” from a truck driver’s view. The four areas drivers should avoid are the front, rear and both sides of the tractor to the front of the trailer. Traveling in these areas will greatly increase the potential for you getting into a crash.
A slow-moving vehicle, such as a tractor or other piece of large farm machinery is unable to travel at highway speed. It is identified by an orange and red triangular sign mounted on the rear of the vehicle. These signs help motorists recognize the vehicle ahead more quickly. The sooner you can identify a slow-moving vehicle the more time you have to respond by reducing your speed. Slow-moving vehicles may make wide turns at unmarked entrances to the right or left of the roadway. Some farm equipment is wider than the road itself.
Road safety is everyone's responsibility—passenger vehicle drivers, truck drivers, bus drivers, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and even pedestrians. We must all remember that we all have different safety challenges when traveling on our roads. Blind spots, long stopping distances, and wide turns are just a few of those challenges to remember. Be a part of our plan to share the road safely. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) developed Our Roads, Our Safety, a national safety campaign to encourage road users to share the road safely with large trucks and buses.
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