Summer is a tough time of the year for commercial truck drivers. Vacationing people, motorcycles, and a new crop of teen drivers, add their numbers to the normal year-round commute traffic. This produces more congestion, aggressive driving, distracted driving, and just plain bad driving.
The weather is often less than ideal. Extreme heat and violent summer storms can test the skills of even the most experienced of truck drivers. As providers of commercial truck insurance in South Carolina, we want you to get through the summer safely. Here are four driving tips:
Keep Your Distance
Allow more than enough following distance between yourself and the traffic ahead. More distance allows more time to spot trouble and to decide on your best course of action. You never want to get into a situation requiring desperate last second maneuvers.
Look Far Ahead
Even when allowing plenty of following distance, don’t limit your scanning to the traffic immediately in front of you. Scan as far ahead as you can to detect signs of trouble. These signs include traffic brake lights, which mean a sudden traffic slowdown is imminent. Flashing lights indicate a possible accident or a police car pulling over a motorist. Either of these situations disturb the traffic flow when motorists slow down to gawk.
Watch for Bad Drivers
There are too many kinds of bad drivers to completely cover here. However, some of the most dangerous are distracted drivers who will exhibit behavior similar to drunk drivers. These include uneven speed, drifting out of their lane and suddenly pulling back, braking that makes no sense, and driving too slow.
Other bad drivers include people who cruise steadily within your blind spots, those who don’t use turn signals, drivers who rapidly cross over multiple lanes to get to their exit, and those who cut you off.
Plan Better Routes
Plan your routes and time your driving to avoid severe storms and heavy traffic. Weather reports give the location and times of severe weather. Either alter your route accordingly, or change your timing. Changing your timing might involve starting your day earlier to beat a storm. Alternatively, you could take your lunch and exercise break sooner to allow the storm to pass before you reach the affected area. You can use these same tactics to avoid times and areas of peak traffic congestion.
In addition to using these tips, make sure you have enough South Carolina commercial truck insurance for the summer. For more information, contact us today.
