Stopped Trucks Carry Hidden Risk

A truck stopped on the highway shoulder is dangerous for its driver and everyone coming up behind it. Traffic speeds by, a driver who comes up too fast has little time to react, and big trucks need far longer to stop than cars.

Some stops can’t be avoided. A truck breaks down, or a driver gets sick. But sometimes a driver just pulls over to rest or make a call. That stop should be avoided.

Without a way to see stops as they happen, a fleet can’t tell the two apart. It doesn’t know how often drivers stop this way or how long a truck sits there.

A study of Ohio’s alert program looked at slowdown alerts, which warn truck drivers about traffic trouble ahead. It tracked secondary crashes, which are crashes caused by an earlier crash. After the alerts began, they fell 29% for trucks.

This story was originally published by Transport Topics. Read the full story at Transport Topics →