Energy On The Offensive #052 - Front Right Blind Spot - The Wreck That Keeps Happening

I keep seeing the same accident happen…

The driver on a multi-lane road begins merging right, unaware of a vehicle in the front-right blind spot. In almost every case, the claimant’s car is pit maneuvered as a police officer would a fleeing suspect and sent into a concrete median.

How to mitigate this within your fleet?

After the third one of these accidents come across my desk in recent months, I started to ask around to get different perspectives on what could be done.

One of those I called who I greatly respect as a safety manager was Casey Driggers. He is the Executive Vice President of safety for Custom Commodities Transport in Gilmer, Texas.

Here are the tips Casey had and ways he is actively working to mitigate similar accidents within his company:

• Design of the truck. Custom Commodities is phasing out long-nose trucks in favor of sloped-nose models. From his experience drivers keep their seat up higher with sloped nose trucks giving themselves more visibility.

• Technology. A lot of newer trucks are coming equipped with blind spot detection, but for older units and those that don’t, Casey recommends retrofit solutions like Bendix BlindSpotter to alert drivers before lane changes.

• Training. Custom Commodities has invested into a driving simulator and runs drivers through several scenarios that include vehicles within their blind spot. The driving simulator allows drivers to experience and learn from dangerous scenarios in a controlled environment.

One more thing that kept showing up in these accidents? Drivers in a rush. Keep on drivers to slow down and stay in the middle or far right lane - even when traffic ahead of them slows.

I have now published this newsletter on 52 different weeks. A years worth of content. I am thankful for all of you who see this content as helpful. Please share this newsletter with a colleague who will also find it helpful.

Here’s to safer fleets and fewer claims!