Blown-over Trucks...gale-force-winds Safety Question

I never knew Mother Nature had such a strong breath except for tornadoes. I mean those trucks are plenty heavy. What can drivers do to prevent becoming blown-over casualties? I would not even step outside the cab if the winds were very strong and I were stopped. Vehicles can be toppled by winds even parked and crush somebody standing on the outside.

Another question, how do you climb outside the cab if your rig is overturned assuming you are conscious and able-bodied?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLQXr4KvWMc

I never knew Mother Nature had such a strong breath except for tornadoes. I mean those trucks are plenty heavy. What can drivers do to prevent becoming blown-over casualties? I would not even step outside the cab if the winds were very strong and I were stopped. Vehicles can be toppled by winds even parked and crush somebody standing on the outside.

Another question, how do you climb outside the cab if your rig is overturned assuming you are conscious and able-bodied?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLQXr4KvWMc

Climb out the other side

Climb out the other side

Whoops completely overlooked your comment Grumpy. Coffee hasn't kicked in yet.

If the winds are bad enough to nliq the truck over when you are parked, you have bigger problems to worry about other than being crushed.

If your on your side you can kick out windshield or climb out other side like mentioned above.

Just keep it shiny side up and you'll be fine.

Wind and ice are the things that will make me park. An empty or light trailer can be blown over by a fairly light wind. We haul heavy paper rolls that are tall. I wouldn't want to be in wind with that load. I once had 44,000 ponds of beans loaded in the center of my trailer. These were heavy and low to the floor. I drove through 50 MPH winds and didn't feel a thing. I almost got blown off my feet when I had to get out at a weigh station. You will learn to feel the truck and trailer. I have shut down twice for wind. Both times for several days.

Listen to your gut and watch the weather reports.

ive shut down quite a few times due to wind before the alerts came over. one was parked on a slanted ramp. a driver got blown off the chesapeke bay bridge before the alerts sounded and died.

ive seen three trucks blown over and 2 jack knife right in front of me. its serious. and drivers forget that blowing objects are also a problem. billboards, trash cans and even truck parts will go flying. The apron over the fuel aisle at Flying j went flying across the parking lot in IA last year...that wind even broke one of my cab extenders off.

park it, lower your landing gear for more stability and even tape or secure blankets over your windows in case the glass comes flying in. many of us have curtains behind the seats, some have them on the windows...use them.

your company would.rather move an appointment time than pay $300,000 for the wreck...or way more.

my cascadias really rocked from the wind. this international isnt affected by the strong winds and i had to use visual cues such as grass and trees. i guess the truck is heavier with a much smoother ride. it makes it harder to determine the wind gusts. with that being said....get to know your truck. im going to ha e to pay much closer attention now that im.in this truck than the cascadia.

Back in the 1980's I rode motorcycles. I borrowed a friend's 600 Ninja. It was always hairy and scary passing a semi on the highway as it always felt like a truck's gust would topple me on the bike over. I learned that the low heavy motorcycles as cruisers were more stable in crosswinds. As a car driver, I get nervous whenever I see a semi ahead of me weaving around in the breeze. usually a dry van. Probably no load. Doubles even look worse in crosswinds. I never want to pass a big truck under these conditions.

For security and visibility, I do like to follow a semi in my car during rain or snowfall. Back in the winter of 2000, I had to come over the Sierras on 80 to California from Reno, NV. Donner Pass in my pickup towing a small trailer. Coming from Sparks to reno the snow was blowing sideways and made me disoriented. I was slow with flashers on. I was almost tempted to pull off the highway and stop. Blizzards are never nice stuff to drive in. When I made it to the long grade westward out of Reno, I had trouble seeing the road ahead of me so I followed a slow dry-van semi ahead of me in the RH lane all the way over the Summit and this truck act like a guiding beacon at about 35 MPH. It kept my windshield clear with its tail wake and provided good illumination of the road ahead.

Office buildings very rarely blow over in heavy winds. Just food for thought.

Whoops completely overlooked your comment Grumpy. Coffee hasn't kicked in yet.

That’s OK. It’s the obvious solution