Tips for Driving Around Large Vehicles
Traffic accidents involving large vehicles still often occur in Indonesia. The causes vary, from the driver being tired to the presence of other objects that the driver cannot see. It's only natural that later some people feel burdened, so they are afraid when they have to drive near large vehicles.
The reason is, unlike other types of vehicles, large vehicles have a higher accident risk when compared to other types of vehicles.
“When you are close to a large vehicle, there is a high risk of an accident. Why? Because big vehicles have big blind spots," explained Sony Susmana, Senior Driving Consultant of Safety Defensive Consultant Indonesia (SDCI).
"Often they cannot see the surrounding conditions optimally due to the driver's visual limitations, even though they have been assisted with rearview mirrors," he continued.
In addition, with its heavier weight, this large vehicle often has problems with the braking system when on a downhill road.
And the engine stalls or the engine stops suddenly while on an uphill road.
Not to mention if a large trailer vehicle, or truck carrying container, has other risks such as luggage and containers being released. Oops, scary!
Well, here's Sony Susmana giving three tips to stay safe when driving in the middle of a large vehicle. Anything?
1. Keep a Safe Distance
When performing maneuvers such as turning and so on, large vehicles require space which is of course also large, aka wide.
So always keep a safe distance of at least of the length of a large vehicle or 2 times the length of our vehicle.
Sony said, "A safe distance must be created so that there is room to anticipate things that might happen, the point is that we or the driver have room for maneuver to avoid."
2. Communication
Because it has a large blind spot. Make sure to always signal large vehicles about your whereabouts.
“Communicate by horn or light when near large vehicles. The goal is for drivers to know where we are,” explained Sony.
If possible avoid the blind spot area. It would be even better if the driver of a large vehicle could see where we were so that it would be safer.
3. Smart Manage Emotions
When on an uphill road or bend area, large vehicles will usually reduce speed due to their heavy weight.
However, not infrequently menuvernya a little forced. On the other hand, many small vehicles are also forced to overtake them.
Even though this is of course not safe because there is not enough distance between the two so that there is the potential for collisions to occur.
So we should stay smart to regulate emotions. Don't just because you want to get there quickly, your life is at stake.
The best thing to do in such conditions is to slow down and be patient while leaving room for the big car to move.
How, are you getting ready to deal with big vehicles?