Trucks and lorries 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 foul-smelling black smoke at us when we’re stuck behind them. We don’t know much about the drivers of these behemoths who sit above us, largely out of sight, other than that they seem to go out of their way to be as rude and obnoxious as possible. But appearances can be deceiving. Some truckers have banded together and started blogging about life on the road. A trucker’s view from above 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 regular cars makes driving interesting 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 evident to anyone who has seen a truck struggling to maintain momentum on an uphill climb, or struggling to control momentum when hurtling down a particularly treacherous incline. That’s when other drivers start to lose patience with fickle, fickle truckers, so easily forgetting how the speedometer needles of our much lighter vehicles tick forward as we blast over hills. We label truck drivers as 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 when it comes to truckers. Oleary, Rozemarie and Louis Albornoz mention the importance of staying within the line of sight of a truck. Every truck is affected by four major blind spots that no strategically placed mirror can overcome: directly behind the truck, directly in front of the truck, and near the wheels on either side. An important indication of its visibility to the driver is its visibility to you. If you cannot see the driver in either side mirror, then the driver cannot see you. At a minimum, you should be able to see a rearview mirror at all times. As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind.
Show me a driver who has never backed up 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 back up, imagine how easy it must be for a giant struggling against the laws of gravity. Trucks roll, it’s part of their nature. A rolling truck is not indicative of poor driving, unless it is running three red lights during peak traffic, in which case someone should call an ambulance. Once you’ve accepted this basic fact, adjust it. Don’t pull up right behind them at traffic lights, stops, or when waiting for a short break. Leave a gap, which is something you should be doing when pulling up behind all the cars anyway. It’s not just safe, it’s courteous.
The last point mentioned here, but by no means the last word on it, is to respect the safety cushion. When traveling in congested traffic or on the open road, truck drivers leave a space between them and the vehicles ahead of them. This is not a convenient stopping space for you to use as you go down the trail. 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 puts you in the blind spot directly in front of the truck. If the driver can’t see you, he can’t react to you. Continual safety net offenders 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 is also the simplest principle that all drivers, regardless of vehicle size, would like other drivers to consider. Bad manners on the road breeds poor driving, which leads to higher insurance premiums and ultimately breeds rich funeral homes.
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 truck drivers; those assholes get what they deserve.”
Recommended site:
http://www.helium.com/knowledge/14368-safety-truck-drivers-perspective
