Defensive Driving · Driver Training VideoMotorcycles, Bikes & Pedestrians

Start with the hard truth

You are driving up to eighty thousand pounds. They have no steel around them, no airbags, no second chance. In any contact between your truck and a person, the person loses. There is no fender bender with a pedestrian.

Motorcycles first

A bike's profile is a fraction of a car's, so your brain misjudges it two ways: it looks farther away than it really is, and it looks slower than it really is. And a motorcycle can vanish completely inside your blind spots - front, rear, and down both sides.

Bicycles

The killer move is the right hook: you pass a cyclist, then turn right across their path - and your trailer off-tracks, sweeping the exact space they are riding in. Before any right turn in town, watch the right mirror through the whole turn, not just at the start.

Pedestrians show up where your attention is lowest: crosswalks on a right turn, between parked cars, truck stops, fuel islands, docks and yards. In any yard or backing situation the standard is GOAL - Get Out And Look. Walk your path before you back.

City blocks and work zones: drop your speed before you arrive, cover the brake near crosswalks, and make eye contact when you can. If you cannot see their eyes, assume they cannot see you - and assume they are looking at a phone.

Your company standard: scan your mirrors every five to eight seconds. Look twice before every lane change and every turn. Slow down and give maximum room when passing bikes. GOAL every single time you back.