Members of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s unique “Share the Road with Trucks” program were on hand at the sold-out ISRI2024 Exhibit Hall to share truck safety with attendees. Scott Tidwell, team leader at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, and his team shared details of the program daily on an hourly basis with Exhibit Hall participants, and attendees got to climb up into their custom 18-wheeler to see what commercial drivers see – and cannot see.
“We came to ISRI2024 to present safety, education, and outreach strategies that focus on how to safely share the road with trucks,” said Tidwell. “We travel the country doing free, in-person trainings and so far, this year alone we’re doing events in 10 states, visited 135 high schools, and participated in 26 community events.”
According to the institute, in 2021 there were 523,796 police reported crashes involving a large truck. The brief session covered the sobering facts about crashes involving large trucks, the characteristics of large trucks, and five key sharing-the-road techniques. The five keys to safely sharing the road with trucks are:
- Don’t hang out in the four, large no-zones (blind spots).
- Pass trucks safely and don’t linger around large trucks.
- Don’t cut trucks off as the stopping distance in large trucks is not proportional to speed.
- Don’t get squeezed by trucks when making turns and when trucks are backing because they need a lot of space.
- Maintain a safe following distance and be certain you can see the truck’s mirrors.
For more information on the Virginia Tech Share the Road program, click here. For information on scheduling a visit reach out to sharingtheroad@vtt.vt.edu.
