STUDENTS LEARN LESSON IN SHARING ROAD

Driver's ed class gets different view at wheel

Ed Mahon

BELLEFONTE — The 15-year-old high school student climbed behind the wheel of the 65-foot-long tractor-trailer and checked out the mirrors.

CDT/Nabil K. Mark

Truck driver Dave Bierly, of Bellefonte, talks about safety to Larry Walker's Drivers Education class at Bellefonte Area High School November 2, 2009. CDT/Nabil K. Mark

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“It’s a different view from up there, isn’t it?” asked Dave Bierly, a Bellefonte resident who’s been a truck driver for 31 accident-free years.

Sophomore Mary Roe agreed. “Whoa.”

The demonstration Monday was part of a driver’s education class focused on how to share the road.

Three cars and one minivan surrounded a tractor-trailer but were placed in blind spots. Students stepped in the stationary vehicle for the following lesson: You may be the object not appearing in a trucker’s mirror.

“You kind of get a feel of what they’re dealing with. It’s very difficult to see us,” Bellefonte teacher Larry Walker said, adding that students have to focus on making themselves visible and keeping a space cushion around them. “We’ll all be better drivers for it.”

In 2008, one out of nine traffic fatalities resulted from a collision involving a large truck, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The federal agency also says that the large truck accidents accounted for 4,229 fatalities and 90,000 injuries last year.

For students, traveling near a tractor-trailer is “one of the more intimidating aspects” of driving, Walker said.

Bierly has worked for Wal-Mart for 15 years and 1.5 million miles. Statewide, he and other drivers speak to about 60 driver’s education classes, including at State College Area High School. This was his first year speaking at Bellefonte.

After dismounting from the tractor-trailer, Mary Roe said Bierly’s message got through.

“It’s a little scary. It’s so easy to make a mistake and, you know, hurt somebody or hurt yourself,” she said. “It’s something I’m going to remember for a while.”

Ed Mahon can be reached at 231-4619.