Truck drivers hold a significant amount of responsibility out on the road. They are operating powerful, lumbering vehicles that are prone to tipping over (if they are carrying too much cargo), breaking down (if the trucking company fails to maintain the vehicle) and causing havoc on the road (for numerous reasons — but chief among them driver error).

If the driver is not as safe as possible, innocent people driving much smaller vehicles can be severely injured in a truck accident.

Drivers of these vehicles need to observe good judgment and they need to obey the myriad laws that apply to them. They needs to hold a valid commercial vehicle license; they need to take frequent breaks and get enough rest in between shifts so that they are focused on the road; and they need to drive safely, obeying speed limits and safely changing lanes so as to minimize the chance of contact with another vehicle.

The training these drivers receive to prevent such things is pretty extensive. If the driver was not properly trained and they cause an accident, the victims of the wreck would have a good case to make in civil court.

An organization called Virtual Driver Interactive, which works with truck drivers, announced that they will be stepping up their training to better equip truckers for the road. The training will highlight vehicle inspections (having the driver walk around the vehicle and check vital parts to ensure the vehicle is in proper working order) and driving tactics (such as how to line a truck up while going in reverse, and respecting blind spots that are created by operating such massive vehicles).

Source: Truck News, "Virtual Driver Interactive introduces Semi-Truck Safety solution," Jan. 23, 2013

• If you would like to learn more about semi-truck accidents, please visit our Pittsburgh truck driver error page.