Trucks, buses and other large vehicles pose a real danger to other motorists in the Twin Tiers.

We have seen a series of accidents in recent days in the Twin Tiers involving big vehicles — tractor-trailers and buses — and with more people on the road during the summer months, it’s a good time to remind everyone to give your big brothers and sisters on the road a wide berth.

Among the accidents:

A dump truck and tractor-trailer collided in Addison in Steuben County.

A tractor-trailer accident on Interstate 86 in Campbell in Steuben County. See stories here and here.

A bus crash in Shippen Township in Tioga County, PA, killed a Mansfield man and left a Tioga, Pa., woman injured.

I hope these accidents are a reminder of the danger these large trucks pose to the cars that share the road with them. Give them plenty of room. Don’t hang too close to them, and certainly not anywhere near their blind spots. If you pass, pass quickly and get away from them.

Expect the unexpected.

Here are some facts from saferoads.org about the dangers of bigger trucks on our highways:

• From 2000 to 2009, 48,301 people were killed and 1,124,000 were injured in accidents involving large trucks.
• Every year, about 4,000 people are killed and 100,000 are injured in large truck crashes.
• The annual death toll from truck‐related crashes is equivalent to a major airplane crash every week of the year.
• Despite the fact that large trucks make up only 3‐4 percent of all registered vehicles,they are 9 percent of all vehicles involved in fatal crashes and represent about 12‐13 percent of all annual motor vehicle crash fatalities.

If you feel that trucks are getting too big for our roads, check out the Truck Safety Coalition and sign its petition!

And check out the latest statistics available on truck and bus crashes on U.S. roads from the federal Department of Transportation. The numbers are chilling.

So next time you’re on the road in Elmira, Corning, Horseheads, Big Flats, Sayre, Waverly and every other community in the Twin Tiers, keep your eyes on the road (no distracted driving!) and be sure to give the big vehicles plenty of room.

Thanks for reading, and make it home safely tonight.
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