Yes, many, if not most car drivers are clueless. Nevermind understanding what truckers have to deal with, they're barely capable of piloting their own vehicles safely from point A to point B. I know trucks can accelerate or stop quickly. I know they have big blind spots. I know they have a job to do and a lot of pressure to deliver on time. I often make space to allow trucks to change lanes or merge on to the highway. When I was driving a U-Haul cross country hauling my car behind it, which didn't want to happily do much more than 55 mph, I even pulled over on to the shoulder occasionally to let cars and trucks behind me go past.
Having said all that, I still think heavy truck and car traffic on the same road is a poor mix. It's not so bad out on the open highway, but in urban areas with congestion and stop and go traffic it just doesn't work well. And while most truck drivers, especially the long-haul guys, are professionals, around here a significant minority, a lot of them short-haul around-town guys, are just plain maniacs. Tailgating at 75 mph, crazy lane changes - just no consideration for the other vehicles on the road, including other truckers. I'm guessing a lot of these idiots are probably graduates of those 3 week CDL courses and are pretty new to the business.
The owner operators/long haul drivers, are supposed to abide by these rules also...giving a little latitude for the area in which they haul.
In my final years of being on the road, I had a company truck that would do 98MPH with a load. Did I do 98 in the city? No, not in a million. But, when I was way out in the sticks, in a state where the cops do not even look at ya fer doin 80, I used to make up a little time.;o) Trucks and cars IMO can be together on the road. Like trucks however, it takes cooperation from both cars AND trucks for it to work. Unfortunately, it takes what we say about most of societal law... Enforce the rules you have already in place, before we go passing more laws. If we enforce laws such as reckless driving for cars and trucks the same, then we should be able to handle things without to much of a problem. But, it is easier to blame the trucks, than to try to educate and instill common sense into ALL of the cars...