[Closed] Lorry blind spots - may have been done already

Dave is that you?

That lorry has a nearside step mirror fitted, but the video doesn't show the view for some reason. You can see part of it appear just in the very top of the video at between 4 and 5 seconds, and then externally from 30 secs on (it's fitted at the top centre of the nearside door, horizontal and angled down), [url= .html]like this one[/url]
I would set my mirrors slightly differently to those in the vid
A similar one fitted above the windscreen would improve the view immediately in front too
But yes, it makes you think

Timba - you are some what missing the point though aren't you 🙄

Timba, even if the blind spot could be reduced slightly, it is still a very good demonstration of the size of the blind spot.

Even on a small panel van, the blind spot is a similar size, and the mirrors aren't as good.

As I said, "It makes you think"
We all have a responsibility, cyclists and drivers alike, and lorry blind spots can be improved

It would be a useful exercise to illustrate the blind spots on a variety of vehicles - obviously lorries are the biggest and scariest vehicles but they don't have the monopoly on blindspots. Never mind a cyclist - you can lose a artic lorry in the blindspot in a transit van

I know it is expensive but more and more cars are being fitted with 360 degree camera systems, couldn't they do that with other types of vehicles?

That video says to me that the lorry shouldn't be allowed on any road other than maybe a motorway. "I didn't see him" is an admission of guilt not an excuse.

If ANY vehicle, lorry or otherwise, is indicating left then I don't wait on it's left hand side at junctions. Seems like a good idea to me.

So..I'm a lorry driver..I know my vehicle has blind spots and I know where they are. I deliberately place my blind spot over a zebra or an asl and someone gets killed as I move off. How can that be anyone's fault other than the drivers?

*that is assuming that they are using their indicator of course!!

That video says to me that the lorry shouldn't be allowed on any road other than maybe a motorway. "I didn't see him" is an admission of guilt not an excuse.

Don't be stupid.

All road users have to try and fit on the same bit of Tarmac. Cyclists are the most vulnerable road users, going up the inside of a lorry at a junction is putting yourself at risk.

Until cyclist ride around inside a crush resistant metal cage they should not be on roads and stick to cycle paths

Yikes!!

Until cyclist ride around inside a crush resistant metal cage they should not be on roads and stick to cycle paths

Ok let's take the lorry off the road then.

How do we all live a nice modern lifestyle we have become accustomed to?

I find it strange that when some one tries to say that lorries can't see cyclist so don't be a numpty and go up their inside, cyclist still blame the lorry as though they have a 'right' to ride there. That's just stupid

FunkyDunc - Member

Until cyclist ride around inside a crush resistant metal cage they should not be on roads and stick to cycle paths

The blind spots on the lorry are nearly as bad as a Seat Leon.

Ok let's take the lorry off the road then

They don't need to have blind spots anymore. I used to work on this...

It means drivers can see right up to the bumpers all round the car with one place to look. It can also record so liability can be proved.

I guess we should keep motorbikes, mopeds and small cars off the road as well?

don't be a numpty and go up their inside

I [b]never [/b]do, but sadly there's sweet FA I can do about the ones that overtake me and end up putting me in the same position.

In built up urban areas they* are dangerous to pedestrians, dangerous to cyclists, dangerous to moped and motorcycle riders, and not exactly safe for cars. The solution to this problem involves doing something** about the danger, not removing all the other users.

* I specifically mean the vehicles, NOT the drivers, althoguh there are some bad HGV drivers, in jsut the say way there are bad car drviers, bad bike riders and 'bad' pedestrians.

I'm not intending this to in any way to be a sleight on HGV drivers, it's a very tough job and requires and immense amount of skill and attention to do properly and safely, precisely because of the physical attributes of the vehicle.

** Something can be anything from having a complete lorry ban in urban areas, to restricted times, restricted weights, regulation on additional visibility, new designs etc. There are ways to deal with this given sufficient will to do so.

So..I'm a lorry driver..I know my vehicle has blind spots and I know where they are. I deliberately place my blind spot over a zebra or an asl and someone gets killed as I move off. How can that be anyone's fault other than the drivers?

Exactly what happened to a 14 year old girl in Brum a few years back (Hope Fennel). A lorry driver, who was probably texting at the time, stopped right up against a crossing so it was in his blind spot. Hope was crossing the road when the lights went green. The driver couldn't see what was on the crossing so just accelerated when he got a green light and crushed her to death. "not my fault guv, I couldn't see her".

If you know the blind spot is there then either fit a mirror or don't stop where the crossing is in your blind spot.

And yes, I'm well aware that plenty of cyclists do stupid things like diving down the left of a left indicating lorry, but it seems like there are plenty of cases like the one above. Or, that one in London where the driver was waiting while indicating right (can't remember the name of the victim) , then decided to make an unsignalled left turn instead and crushed a cyclist waiting in front and to the left of him. Or Dennis Putz, who was drunk and on the phone when he killed Catriona Patel. Or Joao Lopes who killed Eilidh Cairns while not wearing his glasses, then killed 97 year old Nora Gutman on a zebra crossing and was found to have fitted a magnet to his speedo and odometer in order to get around the speed and driving hours limits.

So, if you ride a bike, please don't put yourself into these blindspots*, in fact, don't go down the left hand side of anything unless it's small and you can be sure it won't move. But if a cyclist is killed then don't assume that they've failed to heed a warning and are responsible for their own death because they've sneakily hidden themselves.

*And yes, that means ignoring the unprotected gutter lanes and ASLs that the council has helpfully provided for you.

That's pretty impressive Ribena! I always wonder, is there not a danger of information overload? Always seems like the basic problem isn't so much the visibility, it's the sheer footprint of the vehicle, for them to be safe drivers need to observe a massive area... You could fit mirrors to remove the key blindspots pretty easily but then you're expecting drivers to check a whole ton of mirrors.

@FunkyDunc, you don't need to take trucks off the road entirely but there's really not many jobs that the biggest vehicles are needed for in city centres, and many of those could be done outwith busy road periods. Watching artics "negotiate" small city streets- by which I mean, block them up, use entire junctions to get round corners- and then unload something I could fit in my car is always bizarre.

I always wonder, is there not a danger of information overload?

Yes, but people working on it are aware of this (lots of them have worked on defence stuff too, where information overload is even more critical). Its why it doesn't just display unprocessed fisheye footage from 4 cameras, and instead uses a top down view which is easy to understand at a glance. It de-activates above a certain speed. Stuff gets trialled extensively before its fitted too.

Why dont lorries have cameras fitted so they dont have blind spots. If cars can have them to help the inept park then I dont see why they cant be put on lorries to cut out blind spots.

@Ribena- sorry, didn't mean to suggest nobody had thought of it. Just, it's easy to make a system that works brilliantly but that people won't actually use and let's be honest we're dealing here with some drivers that don't/won't properly use the visibility they have

i am slightly surprised that there aren't more blind spot sensors, like parking sensors. At least if someone did sneak up the blind side the driver would have an idea something was there