A 3-minute lesson from the Alabama course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Trucks and buses have No-Zones: danger areas around them where crashes are more likely and where your car can "disappear" from the driver's view. Know where they are and how to stay out of them.
The No-Zones beside, behind and in front of a large vehicle
No-Zone
A danger area around a truck or bus where crashes are more likely. Some No-Zones are blind spots where your car disappears from the driver's view.
Side No-Zones: don't ride alongside a truck or bus. If you can't see the driver's face in the side mirror, the driver can't see you. Pass on the left, as quickly as possible, and get ahead.
Rear No-Zones: avoid tailgating. You can't see ahead, and if the truck brakes suddenly you have nowhere to go. At night, always dim your headlights when following a large vehicle.
A bus ahead signals right, then drifts left toward the center. Don't slip into the gap on its right. That's the "squeeze play", and you'd be trapped. Wait until the bus finishes the turn.
Check your understanding
Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.
How far can the rear “No-Zone” blind spot behind a large truck or bus extend?
200 feet
50 feet
20 feet
500 feet
Answer: 200 feet
The rear No-Zone behind trucks and buses may extend as far as 200 feet, so tailgating them is dangerous.
When following a large truck or bus at night, keep your high beams on so its driver can see you.
True
False
Answer: False
False. The handbook says to always dim your headlights when following a large vehicle at night, because bright lights reflect off its side mirrors and blind the driver.
