Every time you pull onto an Illinois freeway, you are likely to encounter large trucks, and just as you have blind spots that make it tough to see certain areas outside your vehicle, truckers, too, have these struggles. Because of the sheer size of many commercial trucks, these blind spots, or “no zones,” can prove far larger than those associated with standard passenger vehicles. At the Law Office of Kerley & Associates, we understand the types of injuries that often result when cars and trucks collide, and we have assisted many clients who suffered injury after accidents involving commercial trucks.
Per The Truckers Report, commercial trucks have no-zones in the front and back of their vehicles, but they also have large ones that extend far beyond the right and left lanes on either side of the truck. As a motorist, a good way to get a sense of whether you are travelling in a dangerous area is to see if you can see the trucker’s eyes on the side mirrors. If you cannot see them, it is safe to assume that they cannot see you, either.
Avoiding tailgating trucks should also reduce your risk of landing in a commercial trucker’s blind spot, as can maintaining a considerable and safe distance ahead of a truck when you are travelling in front of one. Should you have to pass a large truck, do so with extreme care, and make sure to use your turn signals before making your move. In extreme situations, you may also need to rely on your horn.
While taking these steps can help reduce your risk of an accident with a commercial vehicle, truckers and trucking companies, too, can make efforts to make the highways safer for everyone. Installing additional mirrors helps truckers spot more of what is around them, and doing so can also help reduce the size of no-zones. Truckers can also rely on other technologies, such as those that emit audible beeps when other vehicles are nearby, to alert them when other vehicles enter their blind spots. More about accidents involving passenger vehicles and commercial trucks is available on our website.