Second in importance to seeing what’s going on ahead of you is knowing the traffic situation beside your commercial or owner operator truck. Mirrors are vital when making lane changes, turning, and backing up. They prevent you from hitting curbs, road signs, and even cars when making turns. They also allow you to safely change lanes on multilane highways. As a provider of commercial or owner operator truck insurance in North Carolina, we would like to share these four tips on mirror use and safety:
Check Your Mirrors
Develop a habit of making frequent but brief mirror checks while driving. Note when cars are entering and leaving your blind spots. This will help you maintain an awareness of the surrounding traffic. This kind of scanning activity also keeps you alert and focused on your driving and is a good antidote to the highway hypnosis and drowsiness that often accompany tedious driving.
Wash Your Mirrors
Dirty mirrors reduce your ability to get a clear view of the traffic situation along the side of your truck. The lost clarity can mean the difference between seeing a motorcycle coming up on your left, or not, and cutting it off when changing lanes. Clean mirrors are critical to avoiding accidents. Keeping them that way is a simple matter of wiping them down with the appropriate cleaning supplies kept in your truck.
Adjust Your Mirrors
The adjustment of your mirrors can change over time. Check their positioning and make the proper adjustment so that you minimize as much of your blind spots as possible. Make sure the mirrors are mounted tightly to the truck to prevent vibration from changing their position. In addition, you want to do this with your trailer attached and aligned straight with your truck, just like it would be while on the road. Sit in your seat as you would while driving when checking your mirror adjustment.
Immediately Replace Cracked Mirrors
The cracks in a broken mirror distract the eye and get in the way of assessing the traffic around you. At night, they’re a source of glare from the headlights of other vehicles. If you get into an accident, your broken mirror may be considered negligence that contributed to the accident, even if it actually didn’t. This may be enough to place you at fault.
While safe mirror use prevents disasters on the road, North Carolina commercial or owner operator truck insurance prevents a financial disaster if an accident should ever occur. Make sure you are well covered. For insurance information and answers to your questions, please contact us.
