How to act around heavy vehicles?

It's easy to curse the heavy vehicles on our roads...

... they take up space, accelerate slowly, get out of their lane when turning, cause turbulence when one meets them, damage the roads ... the list can slowly grow longer. However, their presence is inevitable! When one thinks about it a little, almost everything around us has been transported by truck at one time or another. So, let's try to coexist more peacefully with the heavy vehicles, so that all are safer on the road.   

The blind spots of the heavy vehicles
Depending on the type of truck, blind spots can be relatively small or very wide. The SAAQ presents here the typical blind spots of a road vehicle.

Whenever possible, stay away! But if traffic conditions demand that you drive near a truck, here are a few tips to make sure you are not in one of the truck's blind spots:

• If you are driving next to the truck, make sure you can see the trucker's face in the side mirror. If you don't see it, slow down in order to get out of the blind spot area.
• Before changing lanes in front of the truck, make sure to see it completely in your center mirror. This extra space is necessary for the trucker if braking!  
• If you follow a truck so closely that you can't even see its rear-view mirrors, it does not see you either. Leave more space, so you'll be better able to anticipate traffic movements.

Finally, when a truck turns on its turn signal to change lanes or make a turn, give it as much space as possible, it will need it!

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