There is a lot to be said about the numbers fifteen and seven when it comes to lowering your chances of a rear-end collision. It was a lesson that I have taken away from a recent safety meeting that I would like to share with you here. No, this is not the proper position to place your hands for a better grip on the steering wheel! Rather, these numbers figure directly into a frame of mind you must train yourself to adhere to for safety’s sake.
Prior to driving trucks, most people are generally only familiar with driving passenger vehicles. When driving a “four-wheeled” vehicle on the road you are at a disadvantage and your brain accepts this disadvantage as the “norm”. Unless you drive a pickup truck with a suspension lift rivaling a monster truck, you are typically much lower to the ground than if you were sitting in a commercial truck. Your 
visibility is limited as a result of this because you have a lower field of view. Not only that, but you have a much smaller vehicle designed to move faster, stop quicker, and perform evasive maneuvers much more easily than a big truck. This is how most people’s minds are used to driving when they first enter into the commercial trucking industry. But believe me, I see examples occasionally of even veteran drivers trying to drive their rig like an automobile!
When driving a commercial vehicle, the mindset must shift to match the vehicle you are now in. Even with the disadvantages of moving with less speed, stopping slower, and maneuvering like a top-heavy land yacht, we do have one advantage in a truck that a car doesn’t! From the seat of a big truck you have the view of the whole highway from up above. Being able to see over four-wheelers and road barriers is something you can train your brain to use as a safety precaution. “Fifteen and Seven” is a safety concept that is as simple as keeping your eyes fifteen seconds ahead of you, while maintaining a seven second following distance. This concept goes right inline with my goal of always getting the “big picture” by scanning the area around and ahead of my truck constantly for any inherent risks.
Although it sounds simple to do, it is something that takes a conscious effort in a world where a little gap in front of your truck looks very inviting for the four-wheeler who is in a hurry! There are two simple methods to checking this distance between you and the vehicle in front of you. The first is to pick a fixed object up ahead and count how long it takes you to pass that object (1-Mississippi, 2-Mississippi, etc.). For those of you good at judging distance while on the move, the other method involves adding a zero to the speed you are traveling to determine 
an acceptable following distance. For example, if you are going 55mph, a safe distance to keep from the vehicle in front of you would be at least 550 feet (normal dry weather). Don’t be mistaken and think it is impossible to do because it seems hard at first. If I can do it here in the “cut-off capital” state of California, I think anyone can use this helpful brain training exercise to decrease their risk of being in a rear-end type collision.