Could you be creating a danger zone out on local highways?

The Interstate-10 corridor is highly traveled by thousands of big rigs every day and it is becoming more and more frequent.

“The smaller the car, the harder they are to see,” said Jose Frausto, who has logged over 1-million miles behind the wheel of a rig.

Frausto has been driving since 1965. He has seen a few things over the years.

“When they come in on the freeway, they slowly merge in front of the truck and they expect us to break for them. We can’t stop on a dime,” he told CBS Local 2’s Katie Widner. “Driving school didn’t teach them how to drive around trucks and not drive too close, or cut them off.”

Part of what makes it so hard for commercial vehicles to stop, Frausto said, is the 80-thousand pounds they are towing behind them. According to the California Highway Patrol, the number of crashes involving commercial vehicles has been steadily increasing as well.

In 2012, there were 154 accidents involving them in the Coachella Valley. Over the next five years, that number had risen to 263.

Total number of crashes involving commercial vehicles: 2012: 154 2013: 167 2014: 166 2015: 196 2016: 263 *Indio California Highway Patrol Office’s jurisdiction

So what did some truck drivers say were the cause of many accidents?

“People that don’t give trucks adequate amounts of space, either to stop or when they’re trying to accelerate in. People on their cell phones when they shouldn’t be. You have a completely different perspective up in a truck seeing someone down low in the car,” said Rob Atkinson, a 5-year, veteran driver based out of Canada.

CBS Local 2 ventured out to United Truck Driving School in the city of Riverside to give our viewers a better look at that perspective.

“Legally we have to inspect the truck everyday,” said training yard supervisor Edwin Marroquin.

The daily inspections include a check of the engine, air lines, air breaking system and all tires.

“There’s 105 pounds of pressure in these. If one of these pops out, you’re going to drop a foot,” he said.

Only minutes into a drive with the training vehicle on an area highway and a black Sports Utility Vehicle crossed from the left hand fast lane, in front of the rig, over to an adjacent exit lane.

“See, you have to be careful of something like that. If that line had been longer, it could have caused an accident,” Marroquin pointed out. “With a load that is really heavy, I can snap my break all the way to the ground and the load is going to be pushing.”

In addition to keeping in mind the sheer size and weight of the vehicles, there are major blind spots that civilian drivers should be aware of.

A CBS Local 2 news vehicle, parked near the front, right-hand side of the rig, was nearly impossible to see in the rear-view mirror from the driver’s seat. Depending on how big the vehicle driving there is, it would not be visible to the driver at all.

In case you were wo ndering- here are some more statistics from the CHP – Indio Office on citations issued to drivers of commercial vehicles.

Non-Emergency Stop: commercial vehicles stopping on the freeway when it is not an emergency 2012: 155 2013: 203 2014: 126 2015: 109 2016: 108 Driving in improper lane: commercial vehicles traveling in a lane that is too far to the left 2012: 113 2013: 133 2014: 147 2015: 184 2016: 192 *As stipulated by California Law, commercial vehicles can ride in the right two lanes only, unless within distance of a major freeway interchange Speeding: Commercial vehicle speeding 2012: 710 2013: 640 2014: 687 2015: 545 2016: 678

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