A Tennessee Department of Safety promotion called the "No Zone" program, aims to teach drivers of passenger vehicles how to stay out of a trucker's blind spots.
The safety lesson is part of a 5-year-old Safety Department program to reduce accidents involving commercial vehicles and is conducted by 13 officers from the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement division, which regulates and licenses trucks.
Tennessee, with more than 17,000 trucking companies and some 323,628 licensed trucks, is among the nation's busiest commercial vehicle states, Sgt. John Harmon told the Associated Press.
"We are trying to educate the motoring public on the dangers of driving around a truck, a motor coach or a school bus," Harmon said.
Trucking companies provide trucks and veteran drivers to work with the officers. Their message: Collisions with semi-trailers usually involve blind spots. And motorists who can see truckers, some in rigs up to 75 feet long, shouldn't assume truckers can also see them.
"You can place four cars around that truck in the blind spots," Harmon said.
"We want the motorists to be aware of where they are so they won't stay there."
Although "everybody complains about truckers," Harmon said about 60% of all fatal car-truck collisions are caused by car drivers.
"Most people think that because that truck is sitting up high that the driver can see everything," said Department of Safety Maj. Burton Lawson. "You don't have the field of vision you have in an automobile and you can't stop those things very quickly."
Lawson started Tennessee's program, which also visits civic clubs, schools and driver education classes. It is supported by state and federal money and costs about $150,000 annually.
"I don't know of any state that is doing exactly what we are doing," he said.
Lawson credits the program with helping to reduce truck-car collision fatalities from 175 in 1996 to 162 in 2000 and 138 last year.
The safety lesson is part of a 5-year-old Safety Department program to reduce accidents involving commercial vehicles and is conducted by 13 officers from the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement division, which regulates and licenses trucks.
Tennessee, with more than 17,000 trucking companies and some 323,628 licensed trucks, is among the nation's busiest commercial vehicle states, Sgt. John Harmon told the Associated Press.
"We are trying to educate the motoring public on the dangers of driving around a truck, a motor coach or a school bus," Harmon said.
Trucking companies provide trucks and veteran drivers to work with the officers. Their message: Collisions with semi-trailers usually involve blind spots. And motorists who can see truckers, some in rigs up to 75 feet long, shouldn't assume truckers can also see them.
"You can place four cars around that truck in the blind spots," Harmon said.
"We want the motorists to be aware of where they are so they won't stay there."
Although "everybody complains about truckers," Harmon said about 60% of all fatal car-truck collisions are caused by car drivers.
"Most people think that because that truck is sitting up high that the driver can see everything," said Department of Safety Maj. Burton Lawson. "You don't have the field of vision you have in an automobile and you can't stop those things very quickly."
Lawson started Tennessee's program, which also visits civic clubs, schools and driver education classes. It is supported by state and federal money and costs about $150,000 annually.
"I don't know of any state that is doing exactly what we are doing," he said.
Lawson credits the program with helping to reduce truck-car collision fatalities from 175 in 1996 to 162 in 2000 and 138 last year.
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