How can you best spot potential hazards while driving a CMV?

Using your mirrors frequently is essential for spotting potential hazards while driving a commercial motor vehicle (CMV). This practice enables you to maintain awareness of your surroundings and identify any vehicles, pedestrians, or obstacles that may be approaching from behind or the sides of your vehicle. The mirrors provide critical information regarding the space immediately around your truck, allowing you to make informed decisions to enhance safety on the road.

Frequent mirror checks help drivers monitor traffic conditions and respond appropriately to any changes, such as vehicles merging into your lane or pedestrians crossing near your path. This proactive approach to hazard detection is particularly important for larger vehicles, which have significant blind spots that can obscure visibility.

In contrast, focusing solely on the area directly ahead limits your field of vision and can lead to overlooking critical information that might affect your driving. Minimizing checks of blind spots is dangerous, as blind spots are areas that mirrors do not cover, and neglecting them can result in collisions. Relying only on GPS navigation can also be risky, as it does not account for real-time changes in traffic conditions or unforeseen hazards on the road. Therefore, using mirrors consistently enhances a CMV driver's situational awareness and safety.