Do you know what a brake check is? That’s when you drive in front of someone and then you deliberately hit the brakes hard. It is a very dangerous form of road rage, especially if you do it with a truck. And apparently it happens quite often. Because almost 90 percent of Dutch drivers sometimes receive a brake check from motorists.
The National Drivers Survey shows that brake checking is a major problem. Just under 87 percent of drivers sometimes experience a motorist slamming on the brakes. Just over 77 percent of professional drivers say they have experienced this form of aggression several times.
A truck cannot brake as hard as a car
A truck can be over 18 meters long and weigh about 50 tons. If a motorist drives in front of a truck and carries out a brake check, this is not only life-threatening for the driver, but also for other road users driving behind it. They have less visibility and do not expect a truck to make an emergency stop in the middle of the highway.
Five biggest annoyances of truck drivers
824 Dutch professional drivers participated in the National Drivers Survey. They were asked about their biggest annoyances in traffic. The top five looks like this:
- Motorists who pass in front of the truck when entering/exiting
- Deliberate braking for the truck (brake check)
- Distracted motorists by mobile phones
- Cars driving slower than 80 km/h on the highway
- Disturbance by other road users while merging/exiting