Trucks and trucks are considered by most of us to be the bane of any long-distance road trip. They’re big, they’re slow, and they spit stinky black smoke at us when we’re stuck behind them. We don’t know much about the drivers of these behemoths who sit on top of us, largely out of sight, other than they seem to go out of their way to be as rude and obnoxious as possible. But appearances can be deceiving. Some truckers have joined and started blogging about life on the road. A trucker’s view, from up high, offers an interesting perspective.
The most important thing truckers want other road users to know is that size matters. The fact that trucks can be six times larger and weigh twenty times more than normal cars makes for interesting driving at best. Michael Oleary emphasizes this fact with the definition of inertia. He says that size is of primary importance in inertia. The larger the object, the greater the energy required to break its inertia at any point.
This is apparent to anyone who has seen a truck struggling to maintain momentum on an uphill grade, or struggling to control momentum when hurtling down a particularly treacherous grade. That’s when other drivers start to lose patience with the fickle and fickle truckers, so easily forgetting how the speedometer needles on our much lighter vehicles tick along as we overcome hills. We label truck drivers erratic, while our variations in speed are attributed to the effects of gravity and fuel-injected engines.
Another thing we tend to forget is our complete lack of visibility; at least as far as truckers are concerned. Oleary, Rozemarie, and Louis Albornoz mention the importance of staying within a truck’s line of sight. Each truck is affected by four major blind spots that no strategically placed mirror can overcome: right behind the truck, directly in front of the truck, and near the wheels on either side. An important indication of your visibility to the driver is your visibility to you. If you cannot see the driver in either side mirror, then the driver cannot see you. At the very least, you should be able to see a rear view mirror at all times. As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind.
Show me a driver who has never backed down and I’ll show you a mermaid, Bigfoot, and a leprechaun with a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. If it’s easy for your small lightweight car to roll backwards, imagine how easy it must be for a giant fighting against the laws of gravity. Trucks roll, it’s part of their nature. A rolling truck is not indicative of poor driving, unless you’re running three red lights during rush hour traffic, in which case someone should call an ambulance. Once you’ve accepted this basic fact, adjust it. Don’t stop right behind them at traffic lights, at stops, or when waiting for a short break. Leave a gap, which is something you should be doing when stopping behind all the cars anyway. It’s not only safe, it’s courteous.
The last point mentioned here, but by no means the last word on the matter, is to respect the safety cushion. When traveling in heavy traffic or on the open road, truck drivers leave a space between themselves and the vehicles in front of them. This is not a convenient stopping space for you to use as you make your way down the path. This is the driver’s safety cushion that gives him time to react in emergency situations. If you occupy the emergency space, you risk becoming the emergency. Driving on the mattress also places you in the blind spot directly in front of the truck. If the driver can’t see you, he can’t react to you. Persistent breachers of the safety net must ensure that all their affairs are always in order.
The simplest principle that truckers would like other drivers to keep in mind is courtesy. It’s also the simplest principle that all drivers, regardless of vehicle size, would like other drivers to consider. Poor road manners beget bad driving, which leads to higher insurance premiums and, ultimately, begets wealthy undertakers.
After all, as the golden rule, evident in all major religions, states: “Do to others what you would like them to do to you, except truckers; those assholes get what they deserve.”
Recommended site:
http://www.helium.com/knowledge/14368-safety-truck-drivers-perspective