As you travel along on the road, you may assume everyone driving a truck around you is fully paying attention to other people.
However, accidents due to distractions are a serious problem for truckers because of a few unique factors.
Less time to react
According to the United States Department of Transportation, glancing away from the road for a few seconds reduces your reaction time. The faster you are going, the more likely this can put someone in danger since you have less time to stop or swerve to avoid another car before hitting it.
Truck drivers are especially at risk for causing serious accidents, due to the size of their vehicles and the difference in handling.
Lack of visibility
When you drive a truck, you sit higher up in the vehicle and have a different vantage point than most other drivers. This means, if a trucker does not use his or her mirrors correctly, then certain people or vehicles to their sides are not visible.
This means that a brief distraction can distract the truck driver from checking if there are people in the blind spot. He or she may assume no one is there and attempt to turn or merge.
Trouble with the flow of traffic
Truck drivers need to leave extra room between them and the other people on the road, due to how slowly trucks come to a full stop. This means a trucker must have quick reflexes and be continually paying attention.
If he or she does not anticipate the speed of traffic and people are following them closely, any distractions can cause a trucker to ram into another vehicle. Distractions can seriously influence how accidents happen.
