You may have never heard of an elephant race, but you may have seen one occur before. As a driver, you should recognize the various ways to stay safe on the road, including understanding what an elephant race is, its dangers, and how to approach it safely.
How Does an Elephant Race Occur?
An elephant race refers to two trucks on the road, and one truck attempts to pass the other. While this may not seem like a potentially dangerous thing, keep in mind that trucks drive much slower than other vehicles. Therefore, when a truck driver gets over in front of vehicles, they can cause a potential backup for other vehicles.
If drivers don’t know how to react to an elephant race, they can crash and cause a large pile-up on the road. Here’s how you should approach an elephant race:
- Look for a truck to have their blinker on, indicating their intention to merge into your lane.
- If the truck driver is merging, slow down if you’re still behind them. If you’re next to them, maintain your speed to pass the truck first.
- Allow the truck driver enough room to get over safely. By slowing down early enough, you also give drivers behind you time to slow down.
What are the Dangers of an Elephant Race?
There are two primary concerns with an elephant race: the chance a truck will merge into another vehicle or a multi-vehicle accident. If someone brakes erratically behind a merging truck, they can cause other vehicles behind them to crash. If a truck merges into your vehicle, you can experience severe damages.
Our Monroe truck accident lawyers at Parker Alexander work to help you through the challenges that arise following a severe crash. Trust that we’ll work to hold negligent parties accountable and pursue the compensation you need and deserve to live a better quality of life.
Call our firm today at (318) 625-6262 for your free consultation.