Tips for Sharing the Road with Large Trucks in Pennsylvania

While on Pennsylvania’s highways and secondary roads, it’s important to stay alert and make conscious choices to ensure your safety and that of other motorists. This means that you have to keep a sharp watch on the ever-changing conditions of traffic and make space allowances for sudden stops and turns. That’s especially true when you share the road with commercial tractor-trailers and 18-wheelers. Semi-trucks require more room to turn and more room to stop due to their tremendous size and weight.

Here are some pointers for avoiding a tractor trailer wreck while driving in PA:

• Avoid the blind spots around trucks. If you can't see an 18-wheeler’s side mirrors, the truck driver can't see you. One-third of all crashes between tractor-trailers and cars take place in the blind spots around a tractor-trailer.
• Do not cut in front of large vehicles. 18-wheelers and other large trucks and vehicles require a much longer distance to stop in comparison to small passenger cars. Sudden stops can cause severe and fatal accidents. If you are close to your exit or turn, stay behind the truck and be patient
• Always observe a semi-truck's turn signals before attempting to pass.
• Pass on the left hand side of a large truck. Make sure you accelerate and maintain a constant speed while passing. Wait until you can see the entire cab in your rear view mirror before you signal and pull in front.
• Always be alert. You never know when a tractor-trailer may have to pass or swerve. If you ride in the blind spot, this could mean a possible collision.
• Give large trucks such as tractor-trailer, 18-wheelers, semi-trucks and big rigs, at least four to six seconds of space on the highway and in wet conditions.
• Alert the authorities if you see unsafe driving.

Unfortunately, even the safest people can get involved in truck or tractor trailer accidents. If you or someone you love has been injured in a trucking accident in Pennsylvania or anywhere in the U.S., contact the PA truck accident attorneys at Munley, Munley, & Cartwright, P.C for a free consultation. We charge our clients on a contingency basis. This means that you don't pay unless we obtain compensation on your behalf. Contact our Pennsylvania truck accident lawyers by calling 1-800-318-LAW1 or contact us online.