Tip of the week: How to avoid being crushed by a semi-trailer

Don’t assume a truck can stop. Eighteen-wheelers aren’t sports cars, so never pull into the path of a truck that’s roaring down the highway or even rolling freely down a rural road. A semi takes roughly three times longer to stop than a car.

Avoid passing on the right. “A trucker doesn’t have blind spots; he has blind fields.” Refrain from hanging alongside a truck for long, and definitely avoid passing on the right. If a trucker is in the left lane on a highway, it’s usually for a reason: There could be an obstacle in the lane ahead or police stopped on the right shoulder.

Mind turn signals. Yield immediately to a semi if its left blinker starts flashing. You can’t always tell what lies ahead in the road, but the lane ahead of the truck might be blocked and your lane just might be the trucker’s only out.

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Source: Popular Mechanics