Be Safe Tuesday: Over-Correction

Head-on collisions and roll-overs can be caused by over-correcting.

Over-correcting/Over-steering is an uncontrolled, exaggerated steering motion in response to any number of driving conditions.

Rapid movement of the steering wheel transfers the truck’s weight in the opposite direction, loading the suspension in an alternating fashion.  This often leads to the vehicle spinning out of control, crossing left of center, and/or rolling over.  As garbage trucks often have a high center of gravity leading to a roll-over crash, use the following guidelines to avoid over-correcting:

  1. Stay Focused – Avoid distractions that would cause drifting and lead to a panicked response.
  2. Don’t Panic – Stay calm and in control of your vehicle.
  3. Ease Off – Slow down by taking your foot off the accelerator.  Don’t slam on the brakes.
  4. Be Smooth – Keep both hands on the steering wheel and using controlled, minor adjustments to get your vehicle back on track.

STAY CALM AND DRIVE ON