Truck “side underride”

Truck safety has improved a lot over the years but there is still a long way to go.

One huge improvement to truck safety has been made in some European countries with the addition of “Side Underride” protection. Too many deaths still occur every year in North America when cars end up careening under truck trailers.

The “Mansfield Bar” at the rear of a trailer has saved countless lives by preventing a car from going under a trailer from behind, now it’s time to protect the side of a trailer, Isn’t it?

More on truck safety at http://www.ezee.ca

Tailgating don’t take away my safety space

I don’t know about you, but this is an issue that really pisses me off.

Most other unsafe road actions are not as intentional as tailgating. An unsafe pass, unsafe lane change, forgotten signal or even running a red light or stop sign may be a momentary lapse of judgment, but getting close and personal with a vehicle in front of you at 70 miles per hour shows either ones aggression or shear ignorance of physics. It’s no wonder how road rage begins sometimes.

Some may recommend a two second break between vehicles on a highway but I prefer a three second gap between my vehicle and the vehicle in front of me. That way I have just a little more time to “PLAN” my actions in case of an emergency and emergencies do happen in a split second. I’ll never cease to be amazed when I see a string of cars less than a second apart driving at 75 mph.

I fully believe in the basic rule “slower traffic keep right” or “keep right except to pass” while driving on highways and believe that if everyone followed that rule, it would be like unclogging a heart patient’s arteries and traffic would flow.

If slower traffic did keep right a lot of the tailgating would probably go away although there may still be some that just don’t know any better or just don’t care.

More on road safety at http://www.ezee.ca