News & Insights
Tips for Reducing Your Risk of Commercial Truck Accidents
If you’ve previously been involved in a car accident, then you already know that recovering from it can be like a full-time job. In addition to consulting an attorney, there are doctor’s appointments to go to, physical therapy exercises to work on, and car repairs to arrange. Car accidents that involve commercial trucks are even more serious, often leading to death or disabling injuries. To reduce your risk of car crashes with big rigs, consider using the following safety tips. 
Highway Safety
Accidents with big rigs frequently occur on the highway. Changing lanes in close proximity of a commercial truck can be particularly hazardous. If you must pass a truck, always do so on its left side and use your turn signals. Make sure you have plenty of space to pass the truck safely. If you need to get back in the same lane as the truck after passing it, wait until there are at least several car lengths between your vehicle and the truck.
Driver Distraction
Driving while distracted is dangerous and may be illegal, depending on which state you’re in and which activity you’re engaging in. While you cannot control the behavior of the truck driver, you can make sure that you can respond quickly to changing traffic patterns by keeping your eyes on the road, not on a cellphone. Other forms of driver distraction to avoid include eating and grooming behind the wheel, rubbernecking, using the GPS, or adjusting the music.
Intersection Navigation
You may have noticed signs on the rear end of large trucks that alert drivers to the wide turns the truck may make. Although you should always pay attention to the turn signals of vehicles ahead of you, it’s particularly important to do so when approaching an intersection. Even if the intersection has a right-hand turn only lane, the truck driver may need to approach the intersection from the left lane before making a right-hand turn. If you’re also making a right-hand turn and you try to get ahead of the truck in the right-hand turn lane, your vehicle could end up being sideswiped.
