Car disregards tipper truck blind spot in KPE, gets t-boned

Singapore – The importance of considering blind spots when on the road was highlighted on social media after a vehicle was t-boned by a truck following an attempt of lane cutting.

Facebook page ROADS.sg uploaded a video on Saturday (Oct 30) involving an accident along the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) towards Tampines Expressway (TPE).

The post noted that the car joined the expressway from Nicoll Highway. “Unfortunately, the car was in the truck’s blind spot,” said ROADS.sg.

The video showed the vehicle in what appears to be an attempt to cut into the tipper truck’s lane, failing to consider the heavy vehicle’s blind spot.

The car ended up t-boned by the truck, bringing another vehicle into the accident.

“Drivers and bikers must practice spatial awareness for defensive driving, knowing always who and what is around you,” the post noted.

The video continued to explain that trucks have very different blind spots compared to cars.

Passenger cars are advised to avoid driving slowly next to a large vehicle.

Furthermore, motorists should avoid overtaking from the left side as this is the largest blind spot.

When overtaking, cars must speed up even after entering the lane to keep a safe distance from the heavy vehicle.

“A few seconds of patience is all it takes to let the truck pass first before changing lanes,” noted Facebook user Adzri Adziz.

Meanwhile, others noted that it was the truck entering the filtering lane.

“The description is not correct. From what I can see in the video, the car coming down the KPE cannot pick up speed as the car in front has not managed to change to into the lane the truck is on,” Kway Tao explained.

“But at the same time, the truck wanted to change into the lane the car is on, and the truck driver did as the car just managed to get slightly ahead of the truck. This becomes a pit manoeuvre done by the truck.

So, unfortunately, I think the truck driver is the one at fault here. He could be too anxious to change lanes as at this junction as many selfish car drivers just refused to allow bigger vehicles like buses and trucks to filter in from the main road and would usually want to get ahead and pass the ‘give away’ to the car behind. It is also a design problem at this part of the Nicoll Highway/KPE/PIE junction.”/TISG

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