Trucking Companies have long been aware that tractor trailers have blind spots if drivers fail to use all the mirrors available to them. Typically you will see two types of mirrors on a truck, a flat mirror and a round mirror. By using both of these mirrors a truck driver can see into the "blind spot" of a tractor trailer. Trucking Companies call these alleged blind spots "No Zones." For an example of a "No Zone" see the link at the bottom of this post.

So why have "No Zones?" Defense lawyers use "No-Zones" to shift blame onto drivers who were run over by a tractor trailer! They argue to the jury: 1) Everyone knows about the no-zone, there is even a picture of it on the back of the truck. 2) The dead driver should have paid more attention because he/she knew, or should have known,  they were in a "blind spot" Since you have read this far it now means YOU are responsible if you are passing a truck and the driver changes lanes, running you over!

The truth is the professional tractor trailer driver is 100% RESPONSIBLE for this type of collision. 1. They have specialized training about the blind spots 2. They have mirrors which, if they chose to use them, would eliminate blind spots and 3. They can use electronic systems, in use and available today, to trigger warnings to the tractor trailer driver whenever vehicles are in a blind spot. See: truck.eaton.com/vorad_how_works.htm  For example, Schneider National, a trucking company with 15,500 drivers, would save approximately 6.2 lives EVERY YEAR with this system in place.

According to the company that manufactures the collision avoidance system, "VORAD pays for itself in one year. A major truckload fleet with 605 vehicles equipped with VORAD (Vehicle On-board RADar) for 18 months and running a cumulative 196 million miles can achieve an accident rate of 0.0665 per million miles. That’s a 92% reduction from non-VORAD-equipped vehicles (.88 per million miles).
VORAD typically pays for itself within one year. In a fleet of 500 trucks, VORAD is likely to save one life every five years." 

If you believe it is the cars fault for being in a trucks blind spot, or no zone, does that mean the trucks own the road and cars are never allowed to pass a truck? That the car driver has to guess if the driver of a tractor trailer is going to change lanes or turn before deciding to pass? I believe trucks and cars must share the road, and when you have an 80,000 pound truck on the road you have a reponsibility to stay in your lane until you can change out of it safely.

So whether the tractor trailer driver was lazy and didn’t look into a mirror, or the trucking company was cheap and didn’t want to buy a proven system to avoid a collision, accidents that occur in a no-zone are the truck drivers fault.

For an exmple of "No Zones" see:
www.truckinjurylawyerblog.com/No Zone.gif