It is not uncommon for drivers to get nervous when they are operating around large commercial trucks on the roadway. The reality is that these massive vehicles can cause significant property damage and severe injuries if they collide with smaller cars on the road. As drivers of traditional passenger cars, one of your main goals needs to be to stay out of a large truck’s blind spots. This is easier said than done because these vehicles have large blind spots on all four sides. Here, our Philadelphia truck accident lawyers discuss commercial truck blind spots, where they are, and how you can avoid them.
Where are a Trucks Blind Spots?
Every vehicle has blind spots. For most passenger vehicles, the blind spots are on either side of the vehicle, and these are areas where it is difficult to see for the driver. Even when there are side and rearview mirrors, there are still areas around the vehicle where a driver cannot actually see without physically turning their heads to look.
However, commercial trucks have much larger blind spots than traditional passenger cars. In fact, large truck blind spots are called “No-Zones,” areas where the truck driver cannot see vehicles at all, no matter how much they move around and look. These zones are located directly in front of the truck, directly behind the truck, as well as along both sides of the truck.
These four large truck blind spots are areas where drivers of traditional passenger cars simply do not want to operate.
How to Avoid a Truck’s Blind Spots?
According to data available from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), drivers in traditional passenger vehicles must take extra care when passing or being passed by large commercial trucks. When driving down the roadway, the FMCSA suggests not operating in the first 20 feet in front of a large commercial truck or in the 30 feet behind a large commercial truck. Additionally, experts recommend not traveling in the lane directly to the left of a commercial truck or the two lanes directly to the right of a commercial truck (if there are enough lanes to avoid this).
According to the FMCSA, it is also recommended that all drivers stay out of these blind spots when a truck is turning, backing up, or changing lanes.
We bring up turning because many drivers are not aware of how large commercial trucks take turns. When a large commercial truck is making a right turn, they often have to “swing” the truck into the lanes to the left in order to give themselves clearance to make the right turn. Right turns are particularly difficult for these large vehicles, and any vehicle on the left side blind spot of these trucks could inadvertently get struck.
When discussing driver safety on the roadway, you will often hear the phrase, “If you cannot see the truck driver in their mirrors, then the truck driver cannot see you.” This is a good rule of thumb, but we want to go a little bit farther and say that you should try to stay far enough back from a large commercial truck so that you do not even have to worry about whether or not you are in their blind spot.