The Truckies Top Tips provide motorists with advice about how to share the road safely with Australia’s 534,000 trucks.
The trucking industry is working hard to improve our safety, but we know that many of the accidents between trucks and cars are due to mistakes by car drivers. Drivers are just not taught how to share the road with trucks.
The tips include:
- Avoid blind spots. Truck drivers use their mirrors to see surrounding traffic. Sitting too close to the left passenger door or too close behind the truck may mean the driver doesn’t know you’re there.
- Do not cut in front of trucks. Truck drivers leave a large gap between their vehicle and the car in front. But don’t cut in – because of a truck’s size and weight, it needs almost twice as much room to brake as a car.
- Dip your high beams early when coming up behind a truck. A truck’s mirrors don’t have an anti-glare position.
This edition of the Truckies Top Tips replaces the Top Ten Tips published by the ATA in 2004.