Phones should be off when driving, trucking instructor says

A Windsor trucking instructor says all drivers should turn off their cell phones if they're behind the wheel.

David Kassab works with Academy Truck Driving School where he teaches students about the dangers of texting or calling while driving.

Kessab was responding to the news of a 22-year-old man from the United States who died early Monday morning on the I-75 North.

His car crashed into the back of a semi-truck owned by a Windsor company called Moe's Transport.

"It's a reality," said Kassab. "Truck drivers face a big blind spot behind them, if a car is too close, I can tell you a truck driver cannot see that vehicle completely. There's no mirror or the technology that can show there's a car behind a semi truck."

State troopers said they don't know why the man drove into the back of the truck, but they say they saw the driver still had a cell phone in his hand once they separated the vehicles.

Kassab said the blind spot behind a truck can be as big as four cars.

"In fact, you can hide four full-sized cars behind a tractor-trailer and the tractor driver cannot see them," he said. "So we always teach them to always check their side mirrors and make sure no vehicles are close."

Kassab says rear-end collisions happen frequently in the trucking business.

Michigan State Police said there were no skid marks and ruled out alcohol as a factor in the collision.