Truck drivers to motorists: Stay out of the ‘No Zone’

Zion Smith climbed into the cab of a semi and it was an eye-opening experience.

As Smith sat in the driver’s seat, she looked straight ahead, but could not see the bicycle just a few feet in front of her. Smith looked right but could not spot the car parked to her side. She looked to the rear, but a pickup truck a few feet behind the semi was out of sight.

All of the objects were in her blind spots.

“Whoa,” said the senior taking a drivers education course at Coon Rapids High School. “It made me think we have to be cautious around semis. It’s scary.”

That was the lesson of the day as the American Trucking Associations (ATA) brought its “Share the Road” tour to the north Twin Cities metro school to teach aspiring drivers how to safely interact with big rigs.

Dave Hedicker, who has worked as a professional truck driver for 39 years and logged more than 4 million crash-free miles, said blind spots, what he calls “No Zones” drivers should avoid, can extend over two and three lanes, and hanging out there rather than passing a semi quickly can lead to serious consequences.

“If you can’t see our mirrors, we can’t see you,” he told the students. “We all have blind spots, but trucks’ are bigger due to the size of the vehicle.”

In 2022, 5,936 people died and an estimated 160,608 people were injured in traffic crashes involving large trucks, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

A study from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute found the behavior of a driver of a passenger vehicle – and not the trucker – is often the leading factor in fatal crashes involving heavy trucks and cars.

Researcher Daniel Blower used national crash data to examine more than 5,500 two-vehicle wrecks involving a heavy truck and found drivers of cars, vans, sport-utility vehicles, pickup or light trucks were responsible for 70% of the fatal crashes while truck drivers were assigned blame 16% of the time. Both drivers made errors in 10% of the cases.

A study from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration backed that up. In collisions between trucks and passenger vehicles, motorists were assigned the critical reason in 56% of the incidents and large trucks 44%.

Hedicker said the most common reasons for car-semi crashes are motorists tailgating, cutting off trucks and making abrupt lane changes.

“At 65 mile per hour, it takes a truck the length of two football fields to stop,” Hedicker said. After passing, “you should be able to see both of the truck’s headlights. Then it is safe to pull over.”

John Hausladen, president of the Minnesota Trucking Association, helped bring “Share the Road” to Coon Rapids, Eastview, Apple Valley and Delano high schools last week.

“Anything we can do to help them safely share the road is a win,” Hausladen said. “When a crash happens, it’s always bad.”

Carter Green, a ninth-grader looking to get his permit, said he got the message.

“I am going to try to be far behind or far in front of the truck,” he said. And to his parents, “I am going to tell them to get over a lane or speed up.”

Hausladen said messages in “Share the Road” are applicable to drivers of all ages. Lana Matthews, a finance secretary at Coon Rapids High, agreed.

Drivers “need to realize they need to give space to maintain safety for themselves and everyone else on the road,” she said. “A visual lesson is strong and impactful.”