When you drive on the highway, you will likely encounter tractor-trailers transporting goods. Since large trucks are usually weighed down by the load they’re carrying, they might not be able to move as quickly as you would like them to.  Unfortunately, there are times when individuals start to pass the truck, the truck switches lanes directly into their car and a collision occurs. This happens more than you would think, and you may ask yourself, what went wrong?

Your car might have been in a “No Zone” and you didn’t even realize it, so the truck crashed into you. No Zones are the four main blind spots for large trucks:  (1) directly in front of the cab; (2)  directly behind the trailer; (3) a small patch just to the left of the trailer; and (4) most of the area to the right of the rig. These danger zones are the places where accidents are more likely to happen because commercial truck drivers cannot see passenger vehicles in these areas surrounding their rigs.

According to data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 82% of fatal crashes involving commercial trucks are multiple vehicle accidents with passenger vehicles. In many of these crashes, the passenger vehicles were most likely unseen by the truck until it was too late. If you need to pass a large truck on the road, you need to know the safest way to do that.