I routinely drive my daughter to school in the morning before work. Today, I witnessed her nearly getting run down on the crosswalk by an idiot...well, let's just say, inattentive driver, in a Chevy Avalanche. Thank God, she was not hurt and scurried across the street with only a scare. I, however, was angry and upset. Had I been someone other than a truck-guy, this kind of incident could easily descend into anti-truck bias. As it is, it was a combination of factors that allowed this to happen.
The driver, a petite woman, could barely see over the wheel. Whether that was her preferred seating position or a physical limitation, I couldn't determine. Regardless, it's every driver's duty to understand their limitations as well as those of the vehicle they choose to drive.
In the heat of the moment, I would've liked to have smacked that message into her, to make sure she understood it, but, in reality, it's a resposibility every driver must acknowledge and accept every time they slip behind the wheel.
It's not that she was driving a truck, it's that she wasn't allowing for the limitations of her size in relation to her vehicle. I don't know if it was my horn blast, or her return to conscienceness, that saved my daughter. I'm happy either way.
A couple years ago, I was conversing with the owner of a GM Futurliner (you know, that $4-mil buslike vehicle sold at Barrett-Jackson some years back) at a car show, when he asked if I would walk him, and his truck, to the main road. "I can't see the first 15 feet in front of me," he offered. To avoid unwanted pedestrian interaction, he wanted a spotter to guide him safely through the assembled crowd. Once on the street, where presumably, pedestrian traffic is more restricted, he would give himself lots of room at stops and crosswalks. Even with those precautions, I'm glad he's not driving in my neighborhood.
Vehicles aren't engineered to suit everyone. Trucks, because they're built for more than simple human transport, have trade-offs, often because of their utility. One of the chief criticisms of the first-gen Avalanche was lift-in height and the lack of rear visibility. My neighbor, otherwise delighted with the Chevy's capabilities, sold his Z71 after backing over his son's custom MX race bike. I proposed that this could've happened just as easily with the van he now drives, but he asserts that it wouldn't because the van's limitations are so much more obvious. Hmmmm.
When it comes down to responsibility, it's the pilot's charge. If physical or mental limitations present a problem for you behind the wheel, you'd better find a way to negate or severely limit their influence before you step on the gas and pilot two tons of heavy metal down the street. Endangering yourself is a potential tradgedy, but endangering innocents is a crime. Your role is to be in control.