As you ride on the highways in California you will notice that there are a lot of semi trucks on the road. Semi trucks carry about thirty percent of the cargo shipped in the United States and you cannot go far on the interstate without coming across a semi truck. These big rigs are difficult to maneuver and control and as a motorcycle rider there are some things that you should be aware of, so that if you are involved in a collision with a semi truck, you can tell a negligent truck driver from one that is simply doing the best he can on the road.
The first thing that you should keep in mind is that there are various blind spots on a semi truck that do not exist on trucks or vans. The trucker not only has some blind spots on the sides of his truck but he also has a large blind spot in the very back, which makes it almost impossible to see someone behind him before he backs up. This is why back up beepers exists, to inform other motorists of the truck’s attempt to back up. Also, trucks have blind spots on the front, below the hood of the truck for a certain distance ahead. The trucker especially cannot see motorcycles directly in front of him, close to his truck.
When truckers attempt to change lanes you will notice that they sometimes sit for a long period of time with their turn signal on before they will pull into the lane they want to be in. This is because of the aforementioned blind spot directly behind the truck. They will not pull into the lane if they cannot be absolutely sure that they are far enough past you to move over. If you see a trucker waiting with a turn signal on, give him plenty of room, and flash your headlights at him to let him know that it is okay to move over. Sometimes, the trucker will give you a tap on his brakes to say thanks.
Sometimes trucks go faster than they should on the highways, and sadly, it is often because their boss is pressuring them to get their cargo to the destination sooner, even advocated breaking speeding laws. Also, when trucks go up and down hills, they will go slowly uphill with cargo, and quickly downhill, so that their inertia carries them up the next hill.
Trucks are rarely involved in collisions where the truck driver has been drinking. In fact, in a recent set of statistics by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, the rate of alcohol involved fatalities of the total number of fatalities in trucks was one percent, whereas with other types of vehicles it was around thirty percent.
However, sometimes there are simply bad truck drivers on the road, or good drivers who are being pushed too hard by their company to get to their destination faster and therefore cause accidents. If you have been involved in an accident on your motorcycle with a semi truck and you think that the truck driver was negligent, or that their company may have been to blame, you should contact your semi truck collision attorney to get information on any case you might have against the trucking company, or the trucker himself.
