When we talk about large truck crashes, we often focus on the truck driver and what they did or didn’t do to avoid the crash. The reality is that in large truck crashes, approximately 73 percent of the time, the first harmful event was a collision with another vehicle, predominantly with 4-wheelers. Additionally, in large truck-4-wheeler crashes, several studies over the years have consistently found that 4-wheelers are assigned accountability for these crashes far more often than truck drivers. What can we do to address this problem?

The most significant crashes involving cars and large trucks usually stem from driver errors, visibility issues, and unsafe maneuvers—often by passenger vehicle drivers who underestimate the limitations of large trucks. The following issues are most common:

Unsafe Lane Changes by Car Drivers

• Many crashes occur when cars merge too closely in front of trucks, not accounting for the truck’s longer stopping distance.
• Trucks require significantly more space to brake, and sudden lane changes can lead to rear-end collisions or forced evasive maneuvers.

Limited Visibility and Blind Spots

• Trucks have large blind spots on all four sides, especially on the right side and directly behind.
• Cars lingering in these no zones are often unseen by truck drivers, increasing the risk of sideswipes or merging accidents.

Following Too Closely

• Most drivers don’t maintain adequate headway from the vehicle in front of them and don’t understand the proper distance they need to maintain.
• Both truck and car drivers contribute to this issue, but cars tailgating trucks are particularly vulnerable.
• If a car or truck brakes suddenly, the following vehicle may not have time to react, often leading to underride crashes.

Speeding and Aggressive Driving

• Speeding by either party reduces reaction time and increases crash severity.
• Aggressive behaviors such as cutting off trucks, brake-checking, or weaving through traffic are especially dangerous around large trucks.

Weather and Road Conditions

• Trucks are more affected by slippery and icy roads, high winds, and poor visibility due to their size and weight.
• Car drivers often fail to adjust their driving around trucks in adverse weather or road conditions, leading to loss-of-control incidents.

Misjudging Truck Capabilities

• Many car drivers don’t understand truck limitations—like wide turns, slow acceleration, and long stopping distances.
• This lack of awareness leads to risky behaviors, such as overtaking on the right or squeezing into tight gaps.

Fatigue and Distraction

• Driver fatigue is a significant factor in truck-related crashes, especially on long hauls. It also impacts on car drivers. Unfortunately, many don’t realize it until it is too late.
• Distracted driving—texting, eating, or using devices—is increasingly common among both truck and car drivers.

Lack of Experience and Situational Awareness

• Many car drivers do not focus enough on the driving task when in the vehicle. They can also have a false sense of security with the safety technologies in today’s vehicles.
• Most drivers have an inflated view of their driving abilities, and some lack the experience to perform effectively in difficult situations on the road. This is exacerbated when the driver is distracted or otherwise not focused on the driving task.

While trucking companies already know a lot about this because it is their job, a large majority of the driving population does not. When reviewing driver licensing manuals from many states, there is very little real estate devoted to discussing the differences between cars and large trucks, and what car drivers need to be aware of when operating around them. For enforcement, there are many circumstances where conducting traffic enforcement on car drivers operating unsafely around trucks can be challenging; thus, it is not done as often as we might hope.

Several prevention strategies can be deployed to address these issues. There are programs and efforts in place today relating to many of these strategies, and some are not new ideas, but much more needs to be done, both in and outside of government. We need to focus more sharply on the things we know cause large truck crashes. It most often is NOT the truck driver.

• Education campaigns targeting passenger vehicle drivers about the limitations and operating characteristics of large trucks.
• Technology solutions like automatic emergency braking, collision warning and mitigation, lane departure warning and mitigation, cameras, and blind spot detection, to name a few.
• Use of infrastructure-based technologies, like on-road and intersection cameras at high crash locations, to capture unsafe behaviors and to issue notifications and warnings to operators when warranted.
• Provide more education at the time of licensure on the differences between cars and trucks, what the no-zones are, and how to operate safely around them, as well as other safety concerns impacting crashes, such as distraction, impairment, speeding, and following too close.
• Stricter enforcement and stiffer penalties on 4-wheelers operating in an unsafe manner around commercial vehicles. States should revisit their penalty structures and tie penalty severity to behaviors that more frequently impact crashes.
• Encouraging court systems around the country not to mask, issue deferrals, plea bargains, or other actions that water down the consequences of poor driver behaviors on a driver’s licensing status or driving privileges.
• Require remedial testing and training, and/or other driving restrictions on frequent violators.

Crashes are complex events, and to adequately address them and positively influence sustained behavior, multiple parties are needed. Car drivers are not held to the same standard as truck drivers, and rightly so, given the nature of the vehicles they operate. However, the driving license seems to have become more of a right than a privilege in the United States, and there clearly are individuals who should not be driving a car or a truck, and we need to do a better job at educating and helping those who need it, and also to root out the bad actors.