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Louisiana Car Drivers As Seen From The Cab

Large trucks are defined as trucks with a net weight of at least 10,000 pounds. Fully loaded, they can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, and that should be enough to induce some Louisiana motorists to be careful. When you share the road with vehicles 20 times your own weight and strength, "Keep a respectful distance," is a very important message.

This message is not always heard, says Bert Aitken, an experienced and qualified Louisiana truck driver who likes to remind us that close to 45 percent of all crashes involving large trucks are caused by the driver of the other vehicle, generally a passenger car.

How do Louisiana passenger car drivers endanger themselves traveling among large trucks?

Aitken mentions three main risk factors:

Cutting in front of a truck. Most tractor-trailers riding at traffic speed keep a longer distance with the vehicle in front, knowing well that they need more distance to stop than passenger cars. The sudden appearance of a vehicle changing lanes and cutting in front of the truck upsets the balance and forces the truck driver to slow down in order to create a new safety distance with the car in front. Having slowed down, the truck needs time to get back to speed, and more cars are likely to insert themselves in the gap. The end result is likely to be that the safety distance vanishes and that the truck is now tailgating the cars in front.

Driving slowly in front of a truck. Some drivers slow down because they are talking on their cell phone or looking at directions. If you happen to drive below the speed limit on a busy highway with a huge Freightliner radiator grille taking over your rearview mirror, you should know that the truck driver at your back is not happy. There is little chance that the truck will slow down even more to stay at a safe distance from you, and you have just put yourself in a very tight spot. You'd better move quickly and get out of the way.

Changing your mind at intersections and interchanges. Cars accelerate and brake rather easily. Large trucks do not. If you accelerate to pass the yellow lights, and then stop suddenly because you saw troopers or a camera watching you, you are likely to create a dangerous situation if there is a large truck following you. At an interchange, the same is true if you suddenly realize you are on the wrong lane and use what little space there is in front of a truck to change lanes.

Sharing the road with trucks means understanding that trucks are different, and do not maneuver as nimbly as cars do.

If you have been hurt in a Louisiana truck crash, contact the motor vehicle accident attorneys of the Young Firm in New Orleans immediately for a free, no-commitment evaluation of your case.

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