Mirrors

Has anybody any experience on the latest…ahem…development for HGV mirrors? The aforementioned ‘development’ is …wait for it…NO mirrors. :open_mouth: Cameras have/are replacing mirrors
I passed a new Merc. on the M62 the other day, my lad had previously told me about the ‘no mirrors’ development but I thought he was taking the p*ss, but there it was, a new Merc sans mirrors.
How the hell can this be progress? (or safe) you can’t use your mobile phone when driving but an HGV driver with 44 tons has to start looking at screens in the cab, he’s got to take his eyes off the road, (dangerous). We all know that a driver always has one eye on the road and the other eye on the mirrors :wink:
Me?? I think it’s a backward step, mirrors have done the job very well and still do. The old saying…if it ain’t broken don’t try to fix it.

Total lunacy I think GOM,there’s been a discussion about them on FB and only a small minority agree that they are a good thing. :astonished:

Paul Gee sent me this pic back in 2019 of a Mercedes with no mirrors. It must be very odd driving one after being so used
to having mirrors. :unamused:

I’ve watched several video reviews of them and I like the technology.
No blindside is my favourite feature of them, followed by knowing exactly where the rearmost point of my trailer is.
I’ve not driven a truck with them fitted and having just been given a brand new Scania, I’m unlikely to for at least 2 years. I would really like to try them though.

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Wish we had them fitted thirty years ago, we could have got even more speed up between the quarry and the A515 without leaving a trail of broken glass in our wake from the overhanging vegetation! :laughing:

Pete.

We had reversing cameras fitted to our dump trucks in the 80s used them for a few loads then switched em off.
Black n white camera on grey clay at night, do me a favour ! Cheers Coomsey

Whatever next No mirrors, there will be no drivers in the future ,pre chipped, robot drivers, directed by 1 man looking at a screen like a modern railway signal box.

I think it is simply another case of using technology because we can. Not because there is any need to or an improvement to gain. No, simply another toy for adult kids to play with and smart adult business man to make even more money out of. ABS braking, for example, serves a useful purpose. Camera mirrors? I think not.

I haven’t driven a motor with them, and don’t really want to if honest.
The obvious gain is the loss the huge blind spot some modern mirrors cause, some worse than others and some designs thoughtlessly made even worse than they should be due to the way the mirror is fitted.
Another gain could be some improvement in airflow, probably more effective with already streamlined outfits such as tankers.

To me though it’s a bit like the electric parking brake, an answer to a problem that didn’t exist an answer to a question no one asked, something else electronic to go wrong which it will.

We wondered how long it would be before we had to recover a Mercedes with “Mirror Failure” well yesterday I had to tow one from Trowell Services to Consett as the offside screen became pixelated, Mercedes went out but couldn’t rectify the problem so off we go on an underlift.

I thought about cable tying one of these on the camera stalk, a bit of glass cleaner & it’ll be as good as new, you can’t beat a Zanetti mirror, the driving instructor had them fitted to his lorry when I took my driving test.

1970commer:
We wondered how long it would be before we had to recover a Mercedes with “Mirror Failure” well yesterday I had to tow one from Trowell Services to Consett as the offside screen became pixelated, Mercedes went out but couldn’t rectify the problem so off we go on an underlift.

I thought about cable tying one of these on the camera stalk, a bit of glass cleaner & it’ll be as good as new, you can’t beat a Zanetti mirror, the driving instructor had them fitted to his lorry when I took my driving test.

Why are we not surprised! What happens if you are half way past overtaking something and the nearside camera fails? Stupid gimmick imo.

Zanetti Thats a blast from the past, I had them on my own wagons, Years ago, I thought they were fab in their heyday, They just seemed to vanish very quickley IIRC for some unknown reason, How things have changed & IMO Not for the best, Regards Larry.

1970commer:
We wondered how long it would be before we had to recover a Mercedes with “Mirror Failure” well yesterday I had to tow one from Trowell Services to Consett as the offside screen became pixelated, Mercedes went out but couldn’t rectify the problem so off we go on an underlift.

I thought about cable tying one of these on the camera stalk, a bit of glass cleaner & it’ll be as good as new, you can’t beat a Zanetti mirror, the driving instructor had them fitted to his lorry when I took my driving test.

I wonder how much this long towing job cost :question: , Of course Mercedes should be oblidged to foot the bill IMO,Regards Larry.

I’d been told the original mirror mounts are still there in case of failure of this pointless gimmick :bulb: , why didn’t the Merc breakdown lads just bolt a mirror set in place hurling the cameras as far as humanely possible and allow the vehicle to continue.

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A mirror provides a 3d image which by definition contains distance information.
The mirror cams aren’t 3d type camera systems and couldn’t cover the required range even if they were.

Lawrence Dunbar:
Zanetti Thats a blast from the past, I had them on my own wagons, Years ago, I thought they were fab in their heyday, They just seemed to vanish very quickley IIRC for some unknown reason, How things have changed & IMO Not for the best, Regards Larry.

Larry,I had Zanetti mirrors on one of the AEC MK5 units I drove,they were brilliant.

evans9.jpg

Juddian:
I’d been told the original mirror mounts are still there in case of failure of this pointless gimmick :bulb: , why didn’t the Merc breakdown lads just bolt a mirror set in place hurling the cameras as far as humanely possible and allow the vehicle to continue.

Apparently “we ain’t got any in stock”

You really couldn’t make it up could you?

Someone told me (so it must be true) some dealerships carry the Mercedes back up plan, it’s a mirror on suction pads to stick to the side of the lorry to “get you home”

grumpy old man:
.
How the hell can this be progress? (or safe) you can’t use your mobile phone when driving but an HGV driver with 44 tons has to start looking at screens in the cab, he’s got to take his eyes off the road, (dangerous). We all know that a driver always has one eye on the road and the other eye on the mirrors :wink:
.

The screens are mirror shaped and mounted pretty well where the mirrors would normally be - on the windscreen pillar. The driver doesn’t need to take his eyes off the road.

Having said that, I have my doubts about them - no stereoscopic vision to give the driver an accurate idea of distances, for starters.

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I wonder if you still need the ubiquitous rag tied to the mirror arm to ensure the mirror was kept clean and useable,but now keeping the camera lens clean and useable.

As we move forward some things are a definite improvement,however this is just plain daft.

David