Mississippi Students Learn the Facts about 18-Wheeler Accidents
Driving teachers at a school in Mississippi are catching them young – they were teaching high school students to drive safely around 18-wheelers in order to prevent serious accidents.
Students at Petal High School in Petal, Mississippi received driving education with a twist on the 1st of April. They learned how to drive vigilantly and safely around 18-wheelers in order to reduce the possibility of potentially serious accidents. The program included the participation of experienced 18-wheeler drivers who regularly travel around the community to teach motorists how to drive safely around the massive vehicles.
Driving classes for teens do not normally include tips on how to be safe when sharing the road with big rigs that can reach 53 feet in length and up to 80,000 pounds in weight. Teaching these teens that an 18-wheeler driver may face driving challenges that can impact other vehicles on the road is extremely important. For instance, apart from truck accident lawyers and law enforcement officers, very few adults, let alone teens, know that 18-wheelers have large blind spots that prevent the driver from seeing some vehicles. To drive home that message, three 18-wheelers were set up in the parking lot of the school. Two of the trucks were parked in the blind spot of the other truck. The teens were encouraged to sit in the cab of the third truck and see for themselves how the trucks in the blind spot "disappeared". The students were surprised at how truckers can actually miss seeing even large 18-wheelers in their blind spot. This teaches them to be more careful around tractor trailers.
Truck Accident Safety
It makes more sense to teach teens the right ways of driving around large trucks from the start. Teen drivers are still learning the rules of the road as they drive; teaching them how to be safe around an 18-wheeler can help them avoid making foolish mistakes, like driving too close behind an 18-wheeler, racing with a large truck, and so on. It can also help them to identify signals an 18-wheeler driver makes to signify he is making a turn or changing lanes, thereby helping avoid accidents.
If you have been injured or lost a loved one in a truck accident, contact an 18-wheeler accident attorney at Arnold & Itkin LLP for a free evaluation of your case.
Skelding set off on his custom built wagon on July 28th from Dearfield. He traveled through several states in his wagon drawn by 4 Percheron horses, two of which were killed in the accident. Now, Skelding is focusing on getting back on his feet. Local communities in Macon, Mississippi are setting up fundraising drives for Skelding's expenses as well as the treatment costs for the two surviving horses.