Sharing the road with a big semi-truck can be a nuisance. They accelerate slowly and they usually don’t drive as fast as you’d like. If you’re in a hurry to get to a big meeting, it can be tempting to swerve around such trucks and speed ahead. However, such behavior could be a recipe for disaster.
In today’s post, we examine why trucking accidents are especially devastating.
Comparative size
It should go without saying that anytime two vehicles of widely differing sizes and weights collide, the results are going to be disproportionately disastrous from the littler one. In addition, because truckers spend the majority of their days on highways and freeways, accidents usually occur at higher speeds—which leads to more serious injury.
Ground clearance
Another factor—which most people don’t consider—is the way in which the design of a truck disadvantages smaller vehicles. A semi-truck is tall, and the base of its trailer is usually several feet off the ground. In the event of a side-impact collision with a car, the car would not ricochet off the truck—as it would with another similarly sized vehicle. Instead, the car would skid underneath the trailer, often tearing off the roof of the car and decapitating its occupants. For this reason, the rate of survival from such accidents is quite low.
Because of the increased risks associated with truck collisions, it’s especially important to make safe, responsible decisions when maneuvering around such vehicles. Remember that trucks have slower reaction times and wider blind spots, so make sure you give them adequate time and space to notice you and respond to you.
