A certain sense of fear comes with being involved in an accident. You may quickly shift from fear to terror when the accident is with a large semi.
Semis are not just larger vehicles; they often out-weigh an average car by 10 to 20 times. While size is a factor, there is more than size to making an accident with a semi so dangerous.
This is what can make a crash with a large truck deadly.
Understanding control
When you think about controlling a vehicle, factors such as the weather and the condition of the car can impact your control. Although the same is true of a semi, there are more issues to consider.
Semis take almost twice as much time to stop as an ordinary car. Additionally, when a semi needs to make a sudden turn, a large trailer behind them can jackknife and hit vehicles on either side of the truck.
When a truck driver needs to make an evasive maneuver, they can quickly end up in a situation where they avoid one accident but cause another.
Content counts
Semis can also be dangerous because of what they are hauling. In addition to hazardous chemicals, they may also have extremely heavy or uneven loads.
While the people who load the trucks try to make the load as safe as possible, the trailer’s contents can shift during transit or negatively impact a driver’s attempt to avoid an accident.
When driving near semis, giving them plenty of space is essential. Giving truck drivers adequate space means they have more time to respond to sudden changes on the road.
