I have been an over the road owner/operator truck driver for 40 years. I taught all my kids how to drive and have respect for all drivers but particularly trucks. I have a cart full of close calls and stories and sharing those would not get any good driving ideas across to anyone. Here are a few defensive driving tactics that work for me and that have helped reduce my cart of horrid stories.

The one thing that irritates all of us and truckers are tailgaters. Usually, tailgaters are particularly anxious when you are in the left lane passing slower traffic for extended distances. They usually think you are just hogging the lane unaware of a line of traffic ahead of you. My trick is to move slightly to the right of my lane momentarily so the tailgating driver can see what is ahead of me. Sometimes they back off slightly realizing you are not the only one holding things up. In addition to that I use the four second rule for distance ahead of the next vehicle. The two second rule they taught us in High school driver education never sat well with me at 70 MPH!

Another thing that is particularly helpful is pulling out onto a road that has limited sight distance at night. A good trick is to flash your high beams on and off several times alerting an approaching driver of a vehicle entering the roadway allowing them to slow down if you make that move to pull out.

Passing: Don't hesitate passing trucks. Get past them as quickly as possible. Truckers don't like vehicles lingering for long stretches along side of them. They have enough to do without having to pay wasted attention on a slower passer.

The biggest thing is to keep a good distance behind trucks. First thing is if there is debris in the road they often can straddle whatever it is due to their height; this can be a disaster for cars or coaches following to close. Furthermore, until you have seen a tire explode on a truck you will be glad you were were well behind that vehicle. That goes for passing quickly too!

One last tip! Try to stay behind a driver that you may believe to be impaired due to alcohol or drugs or even simply erratic behavior. Trying to pass and force distance between your vehicle is risky. What is behind you, you have little control over but anything ahead of you gives you choices to slow down or even pull off the main roadway.

Most truckers are courteous and often flick their headlights to let you know you have room to move to return to the right lane. Flick your clearance lights as a thank you, they appreciate that. They are also aware that you are pushing a 45,000 lb. vehicle down the super slab that requires forward thinking in the same respect they are pushing an 80,000 lbs. + in need of forward thinking.

I hope these few tips give you a better defensive posture in your future!