An important campaign that many professional truck driver students, car drivers and public in general must know is the "Share the Road Campaign" sponsored by the American Trucking Association (ATA), Mack Trucks Inc and Chevron Delo. In my opinion, it is important that all professional truck driver schools across the country include in their programs information about the campaign. Designed to improve the safety of America's roadways by teaching how to drive around large trucks, the campaign has been successful in delivering its life-saving messages to hundreds of US cities. In addition, many other organizations and companies interested in the well-being of the trucking industry help to spread the campaign too.
In the website of Mack Trucks, you will find the video of the campaign with interesting testimonials of driver students and practical information about the truck's blind spots. There are three blind spots you must be familiar with in order to prevent accidents on the road while driving nearby a truck. The first one is a small area on the side of the truck driver. The second one is a large area on the right of the truck. Finally, the last one is a large area behind the trailer. The video gives you some tips that are going to facilitate you to have a safe drive.
According to numbers of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), 35 percent of accidents take place in a truck's blind spots. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety indicates that car drivers initiate up to 75 percent of all truck-involved auto victims. For that reason, to have the knowledge that the campaign offers is very positive for drivers. With several national media tours to promote the "Share the Road" campaign across the country, the program uses professional truck drivers with excellent safety records to be the voice.
No doubt, preventing dangerous situations through education can be a powerful tool to reduce the number of accidents involving trucks. Also, it lends a hand to the trucking industry in order to improve its image that it is always beating by the public perception of highway crash. It is important to consider that a good number of truck drivers, who are remunerated by mile and are held responsible for damaged goods, their lives and income depend on driving a well maintained truck cautiously and getting its freight on time.
Thanks to initiatives like "Share the Road" and educational programs in professional truck driver schools, traffic victims involving trucks have progressively declined during the past 50 years. So, it is important to applaud the efforts of the trucking industry and its allies to enhance the quality and safety of its drivers. Also, it is important to applaud the motorists too that are doing their part by simply understanding the rules of driving near trucks and realizing how difficult it is to maneuver a tractor trailer in traffic.