When you hit the road, it is important to understand the major sources of risk that you may face. Among the biggest – literally and metaphorically – are the truckers that transport large hauls from state to state.

But there are ways to safely share the road with these vehicles. By employing some of these tips and tactics, you could potentially drop your chances of getting into a crash.

Give them space

The Roadway Safety Foundation discusses safe ways to share the road with trucks. First, understand that they have different physical limits and boundaries than other vehicles. For example, it takes a truck much longer to come to a stop than other vehicles. Thus, if you are ahead of a truck and coming up on stopped or slowed traffic, you may want to get into another lane. If this is not possible, you want to start slowing down as early as you can to give them plenty of warning.

Next, always pass quickly and safely. Do not drive alongside a truck for an extended amount of time. They have many blind spots. Even if they must check thoroughly before merging into another lane, they often do not spot vehicles driving alongside them in said blind spots.

Beware of tire debris

Finally, you could also end up hit by debris if a tire bursts and you are driving nearby. Unfortunately, truckers have no control over when or if their tires will burst. Sometimes, negligent company practices might make it more likely. But the flying rubber could do a lot of damage to your vehicle, so you want to avoid it where possible.