Coon Rapids Students Gain First-Hand Safety Lessons From Truck Drivers and Semi Truck Cab

Local "Share the Road" truck part of student driver's education instruction

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May 17, 2011, 03:10 ET

ST. PAUL, Minn., May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of the Minnesota Trucking Association (MTA) delivered a hands-on safety demonstration to the students of Coon Rapids High School on Monday, May 16.

Roughly 200 students got a first-hand view from behind the wheel of a semi truck provided by the Rihm Kenworth dealership of St. Paul. Volunteer truck drivers from United Parcel Service (UPS), Koch Trucking and Transport America were on hand to instruct the driver's education students on how to safely share the road with commercial motor vehicles.

A special trailer provided by UPS was on-hand to illustrate the "No Zones" around a semi truck – the areas where passenger vehicles become invisible to a truck driver. The program is a part of an ongoing safety effort by the MTA and its members. The students of Coon Rapids High School used the opportunity to combine their classroom knowledge with a hands-on experience.

One of the students in Pat Cochrane's second period driver's education class remarked how surprised he was to walk up to the semi truck with six passenger vehicles parked around it only to have all of them virtually disappear when she sat in the driver's seat. "The mirrors are really big so I thought you could see a lot more than you really could. It was not what I expected." Another student was surprised to learn how truck drivers were at a disadvantage to passenger cars regarding their sight lines. "You can't see around the whole truck. You're at a disadvantage when cars drive around in the no zones."

The program is part of an ongoing safety education effort that includes providing driver's education instructors with materials to effectively deliver the "Share the Road" message. The MTA is providing the new "Trucks and Teens" digital curriculum to all driver's education programs in the state, and a similar event will take place for motorists at the St. Croix, Fuller Lake and Albert Lea rest stops on Friday, May 20.

Footage of the Coon Rapids event can be found at www.mntruck.org/str.html.

The MTA is a non-profit trade association representing the interests of Minnesota's motor carrier industry since 1932. With almost 700 member companies, the MTA is a powerful voice for the industry. Its mission is "to ensure that the trucking industry speaks with one voice by bringing together truckers, their employers and contractors, and allies to: Create a positive image for the industry; promote safe, environmentally clean and essential services; and encourage an economic and political environment that provides our industry with fair competition." For more information go to www.mntruck.org.

SOURCE Minnesota Trucking Association