Avoiding Re-entry Collisions

“Car driver dies in collision with tractor-trailer re-entering from shoulder”

It’s a headline no one wants to read but it does happen. One of the riskiest moves a driver has to make is merging into traffic. It’s even more dangerous when a driver is re-entering highway traffic from a parked position on the shoulder.

Re-entry collisions will be considered preventable on your drivers’ part. They can be avoided by reminding drivers of these five steps:

• Before pulling onto the shoulder, scan the area ahead for at least the next mile. If there are lane obstructions such as debris, bridges, construction, parked vehicles or curves in the road, proceed to a safer area. Leave enough space to get up to a legal minimum speed before re-entering the travel lanes. Don’t pull over in or near a curve, which prevents approaching traffic from seeing the vehicle and the driver from seeing approaching traffic.

• Before leaving the shoulder, check mirrors to make sure there is adequate space between the vehicle and approaching traffic.

• Signal intentions well in advance.

• Safely accelerate to a minimum legal speed in the shoulder before entering the traffic lane, and continue to build speed quickly and safely once in the traffic lane. Approaching traffic may be traveling anywhere between 55 and 80 mph, depending on the location. Entering the lane too slowly can cause collisions, especially if oncoming vehicles misjudge the truck’s speed and don’t brake in time. Obey the minimum speed for the road before pulling back onto the travel portion, weather permitting. Signal continuously while accelerating quickly but safely to maintain control of the vehicle.

• Once in the traffic lane, scan mirrors and be aware of any approaching vehicles that may have entered blind spots.

Please refer to the Resource Library for a training video that can help your drivers avoid re-entry collisions and keep them out of tomorrow’s headlines.

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