The Missouri Highway Patrol and Missouri Department of Transportation are promoting 'safe driver week' this week throughout the entire state.  A major initiative in this focus is to promote awareness amongst commercial tractor trailer drivers to be aware of the cars around them when operating their big rigs.  Serious personal injury and wrongful death often occurs in a tractor trailer crash.  A battle between a 60,000 pound rig and passenger car is usually won by the truck. 

MODOT encourages truck drivers to thoroughly inspect their loads before heading out on the road, as well as clean all side mirrors and windows for adequate visibility.  Because these trucks weigh an enormous amount, they are inherently hard to to stop or swerve in an attempt to avoid/prevent a collision. 

Missouri non-commercial motorists are encouraged to take precaution when approaching tractor-trailers on the highway.  Keeping away from blind spots is a high priority in crash avoidance.  Also be aware that sometimes truck drivers make evasive moves to allow merging vehicles or when changing lanes to overtake slower moving traffic.  Take care when approaching a truck from behind and when attempting to pass, do so in a relatively quick manner, thus avoiding excessive time in the trucks blind spots.

For more information on this initiative, visit the KOMU website in Boone County Missouri.  To learn more about Federal and State commercial trucking laws, visit the Schultz Legal Group Missouri Injury Victim Website for helpful information on this wide area of regulation.