A 4-minute lesson from the New York course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
In more than 60 percent of fatal crashes involving cars and big trucks, the car driver, not the truck driver, contributes to the cause, and four out of five times it's the car driver who dies. Knowing a big vehicle's limits keeps you out of these crashes.
Large vehicles have deep blind spots behind them and larger blind spots on both sides than cars. If you linger beside or behind a truck, the driver can't see you, and your view of traffic is blocked. Avoid these "no zones."
Tractor-trailers take much longer to stop because air brakes add delay passing braking power from tractor to trailer. Leave plenty of space; if you're in front of a truck, signal turns or lane changes early and avoid sudden moves.
Passing takes longer and needs more space than passing a car. Trucks usually slow on upgrades but can speed up a lot on downgrades, which lengthens your pass. Look far ahead before you commit.
An oncoming tractor-trailer looks slower and smaller than it is and will reach you sooner than you expect. On a two-way highway, move as far right as possible.
When stopped behind a truck or bus, especially facing uphill, leave space: it may roll back slightly when it starts, and the gap lets you pull around it.
You're behind a tractor-trailer at a light. It signals right but drifts into the left part of its lane. Don't squeeze into the gap on its right: it's swinging wide to make the turn, and you'd be in its blind spot and path.
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.
In fatal crashes between cars and big trucks, who most often contributes to causing the crash?
The truck driver, more than 60 percent of the time
The car driver, more than 60 percent of the time
Both drivers equally, in nearly all cases
Neither driver — mechanical failure is the leading cause
Answer: The car driver, more than 60 percent of the time
In more than 60 percent of fatal car/truck crashes, the car driver, not the truck driver, contributed to the cause.
