If you are new to the trucking business, you should know that car and truck drivers have different ways of staying safe on the roads. If you have frequently driven on highways, you might have encountered many heart-stopping moments when you had to sidetrack to get out of the way of a big truck changing lanes.
According to the FMCSA, more than 50% of fatal crashes are due to truck collisions, most of them happening in rural areas.
The question is how to avoid trucking accidents as a trucker.
Tips That Can Save You as a Trucker
As a trucker, you have a bigger responsibility than car drivers or motorists. To avoid accidents, you should keep the following tips in mind.
Maintain a Reasonable Speed
Speed limits are there for a reason, which means that they aren’t a suggestion or indicative of a minimum speed that you can drive on the roads. Speed limits indicate the maximum speed that you can use to drive on a particular road stretch.
This aspect indicates that you will have to adjust and drive slower if the weather changes and the natural conditions become unfavorable to maintain that speed. Always remember that your job is to ensure that the cargo reaches its destination safely; however, you must stay safe yourself in order to get the cargo to the destination safely.
So, maintaining a reasonable speed, adjusting the speed according to the weather conditions, and not exceeding the speed limits are mandatory to avoid accidents.
However, let us say you are driving in Houston, and you do get into an accident; you will want to get in touch with the Houston trucking accident law firm and have the lawyer reach the accident site along with the team to preserve evidence and to document the accident as a way to ensure that you get due compensation for your injuries and other damages that you might have incurred as a result of the accident.
Plan Your Route
Always plan your route ahead, as this is part of being an efficient trucker who knows where they are headed to. Also, you will have to make deliveries in areas and regions that you have never been to before, which is also part of the exciting aspect of becoming a trucker, as you get to explore untraveled roads.
As a trucker, you might not be able to use the same roads as car drivers, including underpasses, entrances, and exits. This aspect indicates the importance of planning and getting an understanding of the route before you embark on the journey.
Of course, you will need a GPS to guide you through; however, you will also want to check a real map and compare the route with your GPS so that you have a clear picture of the route. You will want to know your bridge and low road clearance in advance so that you don’t cause an accident by getting on a path that isn’t designed for your big rig.
Planning in advance can immensely help you with preventing accidents.
