Sunday, April 16, 2006
[Op-Ed] Trucks on the Highway: How to Live With Them
This op-ed, by Lon Anderson of AAA Mid-Atlantic and Anne Ferro of the Maryland Motor Truck Association raises some good advice, and some good points to ponder.
Good advice:
For the immediate future, motorists should concentrate on doing better at sharing the road with trucks. For their own safety,
they should avoid:
· Holding a position on either side of a truck. Trucks have large blind spots on both sides. If the truck driver's face isn't visible in the side-view mirror, a truck driver can't see a car that is traveling alongside his vehicle.
· Tailgating. Trucks also have huge blind spots behind them. A truck driver cannot see cars that are following too closely, and if the truck driver must brake suddenly, a tailgater has no place to go.
· Cutting in front of a truck after passing. Trucks require nearly twice the stopping time and distance that cars do.
While National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data show that the fatal accident rate for both cars and trucks is at a historical low, last year more than 42,000 people were killed on the nation's highways and more than 2.5 million were injured.
Points to ponder:
Government officials and law enforcement agencies can do their part to improve this safety record by:
· Increasing enforcement efforts, especially by targeting aggressive and careless drivers.
· Improving engineering and adding capacity where feasible, especially at exit and entry ramps to ensure adequate space for safe merging.
· Reinforcing the restraining barriers on heavily traveled overpasses above interstates to better protect vehicles below.
· Increasing truck parking along busy routes.
· Maintaining wide shoulders along highways as a refuge for disabled vehicles.
· Creating a bypass for through traffic on Interstate 95 so that traffic is not forced on to the [Capital] Beltway.
Motorists, truckers and government working together can ensure that increasing cargo and congestion on the highways do not mean
more accidents.
Good advice:
For the immediate future, motorists should concentrate on doing better at sharing the road with trucks. For their own safety,
they should avoid:
· Holding a position on either side of a truck. Trucks have large blind spots on both sides. If the truck driver's face isn't visible in the side-view mirror, a truck driver can't see a car that is traveling alongside his vehicle.
· Tailgating. Trucks also have huge blind spots behind them. A truck driver cannot see cars that are following too closely, and if the truck driver must brake suddenly, a tailgater has no place to go.
· Cutting in front of a truck after passing. Trucks require nearly twice the stopping time and distance that cars do.
While National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data show that the fatal accident rate for both cars and trucks is at a historical low, last year more than 42,000 people were killed on the nation's highways and more than 2.5 million were injured.
Points to ponder:
Government officials and law enforcement agencies can do their part to improve this safety record by:
· Increasing enforcement efforts, especially by targeting aggressive and careless drivers.
· Improving engineering and adding capacity where feasible, especially at exit and entry ramps to ensure adequate space for safe merging.
· Reinforcing the restraining barriers on heavily traveled overpasses above interstates to better protect vehicles below.
· Increasing truck parking along busy routes.
· Maintaining wide shoulders along highways as a refuge for disabled vehicles.
· Creating a bypass for through traffic on Interstate 95 so that traffic is not forced on to the [Capital] Beltway.
Motorists, truckers and government working together can ensure that increasing cargo and congestion on the highways do not mean
more accidents.
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