Trucks on Ice

This is because trucks on ice do not mix well with cars.  The show has dramatic scenes of trucks driving on ice.  Most of the episodes demonstrate that large heavy trucks with 18 wheels can safely stay on an icy road.  But what happens when a large commercial truck encounters a car that has lost control on an icy road?  The short answer is that large commercial trucks should never encounter cars driving through an ice storm.  The Federal Motor Safety Carrier Act defines a preventable accident as one involving a commercial motor vehicle that could have been averted but for an act or a failure to act by the motor carrier or the truck driver.  A truck accident on ice, even if that truck was parked may qualify as a preventable accident.

Commercial truck drivers are trained to be alert for ice forming on roads. Clear ice forms when temperatures drop rapidly and moisture on the road freezes into a smooth, clear slippery surface.  Freezing rain can also result in a thin layer of clear ice forming over a road.  Commercial truck drivers are trained to feel the front of their mirrors for ice and to inspect their antennas for the formation of ice.  If ice is forming on their trucks, they are trained to stop and remove their trucks not only from the road but from the side of the road.  An illegally parked truck can be nearly as dangerous as a moving truck to a car that has lost control on ice.