People who are in charge of operating large trucks should always take precautions around smaller ones. Sometimes, truckers fail to follow these guidelines and can look away from oncoming traffic long enough to crash into your car.
While you may know about some factors that can often lead to a truck accident, certain distractions may not seem obvious right away.
Slower handling reactions
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, some truckers may decide to eat while driving their vehicle rather than have a meal while parked. Tight deadlines or a need to get to a destination quickly can lead to them making bad decisions, such as using their hands to pick up food and leaving them open to a crash.
Even having one hand off the wheel to hold a drink or sandwich can impact how fast a trucker can turn the steering wheel to avoid a sudden obstacle. A truck that skids can potentially flip over and cause an accident that will affect people in multiple lanes of traffic.
Less attention to details
Driving while sleepy can leave a trucker at a disadvantage when it comes to stopping in time to prevent a crash. Additionally, looking down at a phone screen can not only leave this same driver at risk of crashing into another vehicle or pedestrian, but it can also take their mind off of the flow of traffic.
When a person’s mind is on what the radio is playing or what they are typing out, they are not thinking about other people around them. Distractions can greatly impact how severe an accident is, especially when a truck and a smaller vehicle collide.