Anyone who has been on the road in Georgia next to a giant 18-wheel tractor-trailer knows how scary it can be. Trucks are much larger and much heavier than your passenger vehicle and it can be intimidating knowing that the odds are stacked against you should an accident occur. Here are some tips for handling yourself when you are forced to share the road with trucks.
While large vehicles typically have many mirrors so that the driver can see, visibility is always going to be better on the side the driver is on. Therefore, Edmunds recommends always passing trucks on the left. Doing so will ensure that the driver sees you and knows you are there. If he or she tries to change lanes and you are not visible on the right side, disaster may result.
In the same vein, trucks have multiple blind spots so care should be taken to avoid traveling next a truck at the same speed it is going. If you want to pass the truck, do so decisively and then move out of the way.
Finally, given how large and heavy tractor-trailers are, they require a much longer distance to stop than your car does. That is why leaving enough space around the truck is so important. If traffic backs up or the truck needs to stop suddenly, it will need hundreds of feet in order to do so. This is not intended to be legal advice and is provided as general information on this topic.
