The Utah Department of Transportation is making it a priority to reduce avoidable accidents involving passenger vehicles and semi trucks involving semi trucks caused by aggressive driving.
They’ve launched a program called Truck Smart, which is a written course and examination focused on educating drivers on how to drive safely near big rigs. The full Truck Smart education plan is available for free on their website.
Some of the advice included in the guide are:
Before pulling in front of a truck, allow on car length for every 10 miles per hour of travel.
A truck simply does not drive like a car. It can take over 500 ft. for a fully loaded truck to come to a complete stop.
If you are behind a truck and can’t see it’s side mirrors, then you are too close.
In addition, the Utah Department of Transportation is offering to teach the Truck Smart course to soon-to-be drivers, in order to help new drivers interact safely with commercial vehicles from the get-go. You can fill out a form on their website in order to request an appointment at any school or location where a normal driver’s education class is held.
For those that choose not to follow their Truck Smart guidelines, there’s another program for that — Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks (T.A.C.T.). The Utah Highway Patrol will be monitoring the roads and issuing tickets up to $750 to any vehicle caught cutting off or driving aggressively around commercial vehicles.
They’ve also put up several billboards warning drivers to drive safely near big rigs, or be prepared to pay a fine.