The Dangers Of Riding Alongside Trucks
Posted by Mike Werner on Sep 1st 2016
| Trucks are requirement in today's society whereby we need to continuously transport goods over long distances. And to do this economically, the trucks need to be big in order to transport as much as they can. And when one says big, it means that these vehicles are going to take up a lot of space on the roads, and this will represent many dangers to us motorcycle riders. |
| Let's have a look at a few of the dangers: |
| Wind Turbulence |
| When a truck is coming up to you in an opposite lane, and both of you have sufficient speed, the turbulence the truck will be making can be enough to make your motorcycle swerve. This is going to be exaggerated when there is a wind blowing on the side of the truck the furthest away from you. |
| Therefore, when you are riding your motorcycle one windy day on a country lane, and a truck is coming up ahead, brace yourself! Be ready to steady your bike when it gets hit by turbulence. |
| Side Wind |
| When it's windy, and the wind is blowing to the opposite side of a truck which you will be passing, while you are passing, the wind will be blocked. So you will not feel any wind. But when you have passed the truck, watch out. Because the wind will suddenly be there, and hit you on the side. |
| So when you are passing a truck on a windy day, make sure you take into account the sudden gust of wind when you have passed. |
| Blind Spots |
| A truck has several, and quite big, blind spots. These are areas the truck driver can not see anything, despite having enormous mirrors. |
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| If you look at the photo, you can see all the blind spots the truck has. This means that when you are riding up on your motorcycle, don't expect the truck driver to see you! |
| Don't hang behind or on the side. Keep moving, and pass the truck, or stay well behind it. If you are going to pass the truck, put out your indicator and keep it on. This way there's a bigger chance the truck driver will see your flashing light. |
| And for sure, if you can see the truck driver in his/her mirrors, then the truck driver can see you, but if you can't see the driver, watch out! |
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| Of course, enormous wide trucks are almost impossible to have any viewing areas, so all bets are off with those. |
| Braking |
| A motorcycle will typically slow down 50-70% faster than a truck. So if you are riding in traffic and a truck is close behind you, either speed up, or let the truck pass you. Because if you need to hit the brakes suddenly, the truck will never slow down fast enough to avoid you. |
| Turning |
| Big trucks need to make big circles when turning. In a city where a truck needs to turn onto another road, when a truck turns right, stay away from the right (that is for countries where one rides on the right, for the UK, Australia et al, it's the opposite). The truck will not see you when turning, and you will get squeezed either onto the sidewalk or under the truck. |
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| So when riding, watch out for trucks. They are bigger than you, and if something happens, the truck always wins. |
