Safe driving practices around trucks, from both seats
Car drivers make the same handful of mistakes around trucks every day. Knowing them tells a truck driver where the next one will come from, and what to keep if it ends in a crash.
Written by Rigo Diaz
Cars and trucks in numbers
Safe driving practices around trucks come down to space and visibility: stay out of a truck's blind spots, never cut in close in front, let it turn wide and merge, and pass on the left. Truck drivers can't control those choices, but they can leave room for them, and document them when room runs out.
Most safety advice for truck drivers is about their own habits. This guide is about everyone else's: the car that sits beside your trailer, cuts into the gap you built, or tries to pass on your right in a turn.
I spent more than six years in risk management before I founded Simplex, and I have led it for more than 25 years since. From the risk side, a crash your driver didn't cause still counts on your safety record unless someone files the evidence to show it. So this guide covers both: how to drive around other people's mistakes, and what to do when one reaches your truck.
The full briefing, read aloud
8 chapters. Select one to jump to it.
Generated with AI text-to-speech from this article's key insights, in order, rather than reading it word for word. Chapter times come from a transcript of the audio. The article itself was written and reviewed by Rigo Diaz.
Key takeaways
The other vehicle usually moves first
For 63% of large trucks in 2022 fatal crashes, the event just before impact was another vehicle, person, animal, or object in the truck's lane or entering it.
Car drivers are taught five habits
FMCSA tells them to avoid blind spots, leave room when merging in front, let trucks turn wide, stay back when stopped, and pass on the left.
Defend the space you can control
Don't ride alongside other vehicles, rebuild your gap after a cut-in, swing wide only at the end of a right turn, and never speed up for a tailgater.
Not your fault can be made official
Most of FMCSA's 21 crash types eligible for a Not Preventable finding describe another driver's mistake. The police accident report is required.
Video settles the argument
Any crash where video shows the sequence of events is eligible, and a camera can be mounted on the windshield within the zones 49 CFR 393.60(e) allows.
In this articleContents
Why do so many truck crashes start with another vehicle?
Because most serious truck crashes involve a second vehicle, and that vehicle is often the one moving into the truck's path. In FMCSA's Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2022, the latest edition, 62% of fatal large-truck crashes involved two vehicles, and 82% of the people killed were not in the truck.
For 63% of the large trucks in those fatal crashes, the critical event just before impact was another vehicle, person, animal, or object in the truck's lane or moving into it. At least one driver-related factor, such as speeding or impairment, was recorded for 54% of passenger vehicle drivers in fatal crashes, against 33% of large truck drivers.
Size is why those moments end badly. FMCSA notes that a truck is often 20 to 30 times heavier than a passenger vehicle, up to 80,000 pounds loaded, and can need the length of two football fields to stop.
What are the safe driving practices around trucks for car drivers?
FMCSA's tips for passenger vehicle drivers come down to five habits around trucks. They are worth knowing from the cab too, because each one tells you where the next mistake is likely to come from.
- Stay out of the blind spots. Don't linger where the truck driver can't see you. If you can't see the truck driver's face in their mirror, they can't see you.
- Leave room when you merge in front. Wait until the truck is visible in your rearview mirror, then leave extra space, because the truck needs far more distance to stop.
- Let it turn wide. A truck turning right may first move left to make room. Wait until it finishes the turn.
- Stay back when stopped. Trucks sit high, and a car pushed into the back of one can slide under it. On an incline, a truck may roll back.
- Pass on the left, and not downhill. Avoid passing from the right lane or on downgrades, where trucks gain speed, and give room to a truck passing you or merging from an on-ramp.
FMCSA also asks car drivers for patience: trucks accelerate slowly, and the speed a truck holds is often the safe one for its weight and cargo.
How can truck drivers defend against bad driving around them?
By assuming those five habits will be broken and leaving room for it. The Texas CDL manual, built on the national model manual, covers each situation.
Keep cars out of your blind spots
Set every mirror before the trip with the trailer straight, so each shows part of your vehicle as a reference. Convex mirrors make vehicles look smaller and farther away than they are.
On a lane change, check the mirrors before you move, after you signal, right after you start, and when you finish. Don't ride alongside other vehicles: drop back or pull forward so the other driver can see you.
Rebuild your gap after a cut-in
A car that merges in close takes the space you were keeping. Ease off until your full following distance is back instead of holding speed behind it; the seconds-per-length rule is in our commercial driver safety tips. When you merge, use the mirrors to confirm the gap fits the whole rig.
Turn right without leaving a gap
Turn slowly. If the truck can't make the turn without swinging into another lane, swing wide as you complete it, keeping the rear of the trailer close to the curb so no one can pass on your right. Don't swing left before the turn: a driver behind may think you're turning left and pull up on your right.
If you must cross into the oncoming lane, give oncoming cars room to pass or stop, but don't back up, because someone may be behind you.
Handle tailgaters without tricks
Trucks often get tailgated when they're slow, such as uphill, and in bad weather. Stay in the right lane when a heavy load slows you, signal early, and slow down gradually. Open more room ahead so you never have to brake hard, and don't speed up or flash your brake lights.
Spot distracted and confused drivers early
Watch for cars that drift within or across their lane, change speed for no reason, or have a driver busy with a phone, food, or a map. Give them extra room and be careful passing them, because they may drift into you.
Confused drivers stop or change direction without warning, most often near interchanges and major intersections. After dark, add impaired drivers to the list; our night driving guide covers the signs.
Let aggressive drivers go
Get out of their way, don't speed up or hold your lane to make a point, avoid eye contact, and ignore gestures. Report them with a vehicle description, plate number, location, and direction of travel.
Make that call hands-free, or once you're safely stopped. Under 49 CFR 392.82, a hand-held phone is allowed while driving only when necessary to reach law enforcement or emergency services.
When another driver causes the crash, can FMCSA rule it not preventable?
Often, yes. FMCSA's Crash Preventability Determination Program reviews 21 crash types for crashes on or after December 1, 2024, and most describe another driver's mistake. A Not Preventable crash stays listed, but drops out of your Crash Indicator BASIC and is noted on the driver's Pre-Employment Screening Program record.
| What the other driver does | Your best defense | Eligible crash type |
|---|---|---|
| Follows too close or doesn't slow | Signal early, slow gradually, keep room ahead | Struck in the rear, or other motorist did not stop or slow in traffic |
| Changes lanes into you | Regular mirror checks, no riding alongside | Struck on the side by a motorist going the same direction |
| Makes a U-turn or illegal turn in front of you | Watch intersections and drivers' head movements | Struck because another motorist made a U-turn or illegal turn |
| Pulls out of a driveway or parking lot | Watch for brake lights, exhaust, and movement | Struck by a motorist entering from a private driveway or parking lot |
| Is texting, asleep, or impaired | Extra room and careful passing | Struck because the motorist was distracted, fell asleep, or was under the influence |
| Squeezes past on a right turn | Swing wide only at the end of the turn | Any crash where video shows the sequence of events |
The evidence decides it. You file a Request for Data Review in FMCSA's DataQs system with the police accident report; requests without one are closed. Photos, video, and court documents strengthen it, and fatal crashes also need the DOT drug and alcohol test results.
FMCSA won't review crashes more than 5 years old, and you can only submit once the state's crash report reaches its system. Results post to SMS within 60 days of a decision. A Preventable or Undecided finding keeps the crash in your score, but you can reopen the request with new evidence. Our fleet loss-prevention routine shows where this fits after every crash.
Mount the camera where the rule allows
Video is the strongest evidence you can have. Under 49 CFR 393.60(e), a camera system counts as vehicle safety technology and may be mounted no more than 8.5 inches below the top of the wiper-swept area, or 7 inches above its bottom, outside your sight lines to the road and signs.
What should a carrier put in place?
A short routine that turns other drivers' mistakes into training before a crash, and evidence after one.
- Train the situations. Cover blind spots, cut-ins, right turns, tailgaters, and aggressive drivers alongside the topics in our safety training guide.
- Mount cameras legally. Keep every windshield-mounted device inside the 393.60(e) zones, and save the footage from any incident.
- Collect the evidence at the scene. Drivers should leave with the police report number and photos of the vehicles' positions and damage. Our truck accident procedures list the full scene steps.
- File for every eligible crash. Check your Crash Indicator each month and submit a preventability request for each crash that fits. Our CSA program monitors these scores with you.
FMCSA says a preventability finding doesn't change a safety rating or create legal obligations for anyone. What it changes is your Crash Indicator, which FMCSA uses to prioritize carriers for interventions, and the driver's screening record that future employers check.
How Simplex helps when other drivers put your record at risk
You can't control the car beside your trailer. You can control what happens to your safety record afterward, and that is where we help.
Eyes on your crash record
Through our CSA program, we monitor driver performance and design the policies and training behind it.
A compliance program that keeps checking
Our compliance programs cover driver qualification file management, CSA monitoring, mock audits, and HOS management.
Insurance that looks at safety
Our insurance team builds commercial truck insurance plans that include risk services and fleet safety, alongside liability, physical damage, and cargo.
Frequently asked questions
What are safe driving practices around trucks?+
How do you know if you're in a truck's blind spot?+
Why do trucks swing left before turning right?+
What should a truck driver do about a tailgater?+
Can a crash caused by a car come off a carrier's CSA score?+
Where this information comes from
The guidance below comes from FMCSA's road-safety guidance and crash data, the Texas CDL manual, FMCSA's preventability program, and federal regulation, all checked on October 20, 2026.
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1
FMCSA — Tips for Passenger Vehicle Drivers
Blind spots, stopping distance, wide turns, staying back, merging and passing, and truck weights.
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2
FMCSA — Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2022
Two-vehicle crashes, who was killed, critical precrash events, and driver-related factors.
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3
Texas DPS — Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers Handbook (DL-7C)
Mirror use, space to the sides and behind, tailgaters, right turns, hazard clues, and aggressive drivers.
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4
FMCSA — Crash Preventability Determination Program
The 21 eligible crash types since December 1, 2024, and what a Not Preventable finding changes.
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5
FMCSA — Crash Preventability Determination Program FAQs
Required documents, the 5-year limit, the 60-day posting, reopening requests, and effect on ratings.
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6
eCFR — 49 CFR 393.60
Where vehicle safety technology such as cameras may be mounted on the windshield.
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7
eCFR — 49 CFR 392.82
The hand-held phone ban and its exception for calling law enforcement or emergency services.
Written by
Rigo Diaz
Founder & CEO, Simplex Group
Founder and CEO of Simplex Group, with more than 25 years leading the company and helping trucking entrepreneurs navigate compliance, insurance, and the day-to-day demands of running a carrier. Before founding Simplex, he spent more than six years in risk management, experience that continues to shape how he approaches insurance, compliance, and carrier risk today.
Published · Updated
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Drive for the car beside you
You can't fix how other people drive around your trucks. You can leave room for their mistakes, and keep the evidence when room wasn't enough.
If you want a second set of eyes on your crash record, your drivers' training, and the policies behind them, talk to our team.