Don’t Make The Same Mistake I Did.

Had a minor incident today. Heading northbound on a tight 4 lane road. I was in the left lane coming up on a fresh green light. My lane is moving faster then the right lane at this point. As I’m approaching the intersection I notice the small box truck facing me in the opposing left turn lane. He is very tight to the yellow line on an already very tight stretch of road. On my right side there is another semi going slower than I am. I was concerned about my driver side mirror hitting the small box trucks driver side mirror. As I went through the intersection I had to jerk left to miss his mirror but in doing so I clipped the driver side mirror of the semi on my right. My mirror bent in and the bottom mounting bracket busted. After hitting the mirror I quickly turned on my flashers and found a safe place to pull over to asses the situation. I set the brakes and jumped out of the cab To talk to the other driver. He gives me 2 thumbs up and waves me off and continues on with his day. I couldn’t have been more thankful for this. I’m so happy he had no damage. THIS WAS 100% AVOIDABLE ON MY PART. I was in a hurry and let my guard done. I learned a lot from this stupid mistake. All I had to do was slow down. I was able to secure my mirror with a roll of duct tape to get me through my day until I made it back to the shop. Please learn from my mistake. I am so very lucky it turned out like it did. My boss understood and basically told me to just make sure it gets fixed. Let my dumb mistake be a learning scenario for you. I was very disappointed in myself to say the least.

Humble spirit. Sorry this happened to you. Sounds like you handled it like a pro.

Humble spirit. Sorry this happened to you. Sounds like you handled it like a pro.

I second that - glad everyone's okay and I hear that learning from these mistakes is the main takeaway from them!

Thank you for sharing this Joseph D..

It says a lot about your approach to this and your character.

Be safe!

I appreciate everyone’s kind words. There is no disappointment like self disappointment lol. 3 years into driving in and around Chicago and still learning everyday.

3 years of that'll almost make me rip my own mirrors off. Glad it worked out for you driver.

Thanks Turtle. It will definitely test your patience on a day to day basis. Day cab and a 48ft reefer just barely fits into all of my stops.

A 47 year veteran truck driver told me the best advise early in my career that kept me out of trouble.... learn to stay in the right lane out of everybody's way

learn to stay in the right lane out of everybody's way

not always possible. We have a few roads in des moines that are extremely narrow and the telephone poles are so close to the road you'd likely rip the mirrors off if you stay in the right lane.

I hold down the right lane when I can. Unfortunately in and around Chicago right lanes can be very dangerous for many different reasons.