woody2808:
Thanks for the replies so far fellas, Semtex I have photos of the damage, so does my boss, it’s the first thing I did to cover myself so I couldn’t believe it this morning when I was told the car was a write off. The long continuous white lines on the car are just road marking reflections in the sun
and the collosal damage to my step
if thats a write off i better get onto the insurance with my car…since it has more bumps and scrapes than that lol
Woody, i had this on the M25 just before the M4 turn off, i had just come past the on slip for the M40 and saw 2 cars coming down it in my nearside mirror, as the car infront was pootling along as they do at about 35MPH i pulled out to overtake him, as i went past him i looked in the mirror and there were now 3 sets of headlights (it was dark (about 0500 in the morning) and ■■■■■■■ down with rain) in my mirror so i indicated and started to pull in, as i pulled in i heard a scraping noise and the cab rocked a little. i pulled back into my lane as i thought i had driven over something in the road and looked in my mirror and there it was, a battered old s reg saab, we pulled into the cones by the road works and i got out to look at what had happened and the prick had seen me overtaking him and accelerated (he admitted this to me but funnily it wasnt on his statement for the insurance).
now from what we could gather from the point of impact, it was on the back door at the rear of it and i caught him with my step (broke te bracket that holds the step in place) so he was in my blind spot by the front nearside pillar. i did not see him at all and on my wagon at the time was 2 wide angle mirrors (one above the main mirror and one below) on the nearside, the main mirror obviously, a kerbside mirror and the front mirror (which looks across the front of the truck) i know for a fact i checked all of these mirrors before i started to move over and could not see him or even any lights to give me a clue there was a car there.
there is a massive blind spot on the XF, at the time my boss said there wasnt if you were looking in your mirror every 5 seconds (which i guess he is right) but when do we get chance to look forward. plus if the idiot car driver didnt have the “got to beat the truck” mentality it never would have happened.
by the way, did she have nice legs? they look ok from the pics? 
Ive never driven an XF only a 12 and 18 ton LF and and a CF, but the Renault Premium has a bit of a blindspot too - nearly took a Transit van out on the M25 a few monthes ago, the only thing that saved him was it was at night and I saw his headlights as he went over a bump 
Why do car drivers sit right beside us anyway… 
I did take out a plastic bollard the other week but my new boss wasnt too happy as apparently it had only been put in that morning
Sounds like one of 2 things happing here.
The Doctor has gone home and thought I can get a few grand compensation and a new car out of this and phoned a claims firm. Similar things have happened to friends of mine after minor shunts in both cars and trucks, even when it wasn’t thier fault they have had lawers on the phone asking for money to settle out of court.
Your company is looking to hang somebody out to dry and I doubt you get to be a driver foreman by backing drivers against the management.
As for the XF not having a blind spot!
I think everything I’ve heard or read about the XF mentions it’s blind spot.
Unless you nearside door is missing or you have a truckview lense there is a blind spot in every lorry on its nearside. The higher the cab the worse it gets.
Lee G:
Woody, i had this on the M25 just before the M4 turn off, i had just come past the on slip for the M40 and saw 2 cars coming down it in my nearside mirror, as the car infront was pootling along as they do at about 35MPH i pulled out to overtake him, as i went past him i looked in the mirror and there were now 3 sets of headlights (it was dark (about 0500 in the morning) and ■■■■■■■ down with rain) in my mirror so i indicated and started to pull in, as i pulled in i heard a scraping noise and the cab rocked a little. i pulled back into my lane as i thought i had driven over something in the road and looked in my mirror and there it was, a battered old s reg saab, we pulled into the cones by the road works and i got out to look at what had happened and the prick had seen me overtaking him and accelerated (he admitted this to me but funnily it wasnt on his statement for the insurance).now from what we could gather from the point of impact, it was on the back door at the rear of it and i caught him with my step (broke te bracket that holds the step in place) so he was in my blind spot by the front nearside pillar. i did not see him at all and on my wagon at the time was 2 wide angle mirrors (one above the main mirror and one below) on the nearside, the main mirror obviously, a kerbside mirror and the front mirror (which looks across the front of the truck) i know for a fact i checked all of these mirrors before i started to move over and could not see him or even any lights to give me a clue there was a car there.
there is a massive blind spot on the XF, at the time my boss said there wasnt if you were looking in your mirror every 5 seconds (which i guess he is right) but when do we get chance to look forward. plus if the idiot car driver didnt have the “got to beat the truck” mentality it never would have happened.
by the way, did she have nice legs? they look ok from the pics?
don’t let the picture fool you lee, the legs were little, dumpy and afro-caribbean but whatever floats your boat mate 
DAF95XF:
I did take out a plastic bollard the other week but my new boss wasnt too happy as apparently it had only been put in that morning
no change there then!
by the way, did she have nice legs? they look ok from the pics?
They look a bit chunky to me. Not that I can afford to be fussy 
What would concern me more Woody is your 6 month probationary period,if your’e not carefull you’ll never be on proper money. 3 months is more common.
DAF95XF:
I did take out a plastic bollard the other week but my new boss wasnt too happy as apparently it had only been put in that morning
Old habits die hard hey mate 
Car drivers seem to have a death wish, the bigger the vehicle, the more it seems to encourage them to try and get in front of it.
Lee G:
DAF95XF:
I did take out a plastic bollard the other week but my new boss wasnt too happy as apparently it had only been put in that morningno change there then!
Norbert can sleep at nights now,knowing he’s someone elses problem.
Rob K:
shuttlespanker:
if you position a transit van correctly on the nearside of an XF, you would not be able to see itif your driver foreman has stated that there are no blindspots, does his XF have the passenger door removed? if not, he is talking out of his ■■■■■■
i have been driving DAF XF’s for quite a number of years, and currently own five of them
as for the car being a write off, ask the insurance company if you can buy it from them
LOL @ last sentence - good idea actually
I would have to partly disagree with you about the blind spot though. Having also spent a lot of time driving XFs I do agree with you that there is a huge blind spot, but only if you don’t have the bob (kerb) mirror adjusted correctly. Most of my driving XFs were other drivers’ and I don’t recall even one of them having the kerb mirror adjusted correctly. They all seem to have it focusing on the bottom half of the door and the step, angled slightly backwards as well. This is neither use nor ornament as you’d never have a vehicle that close to you to see it at that angle. I always used to adjust them so that I could only just see a tiny sliver of the door in them (ie. angling it outwards so that you can just see the edges of the vehicles in lane 1 when you’re overtaking them normally), but also used to angle it forwards slightly as well, as this is where the XF blind spot actually is; it’s not directly alongside you. Also, mount the wide angle mirror underneath the main mirror (a lot of companies have the wide angle at the top and this is wrong). If you put the wide angle mirror at the bottom and angle it down slightly, you’ll be able to see the cars that are alongside your fuel tank/drive axle area that are usually out of sight in your bob mirror and main mirror. With them set-up like that you’ve got full coverage of all your nearside and your blind spot, thus negating the need to lean forward/life yer arse off the seat to check that no vehicles are there before moving over.
Kin hell, listen to mr quadrophenia and his lambretta, if your as good as you seem to think your are special k agency driver, you don’t even need a kerb mirror so as normal your talking from your rear half of your body and as usual you know everything.
Please excuse my ignorance but what is a probationary period does this mean that you do the same work as a driver that has worked at the company for a few years for less money.Being a new driver should no way have any affect on your wages as for your accident no one was hurt the police were not called and what happened to the company beliving your account of the incident as apposed to the other party this shows yet again how a company works and what there view is of there staff.As for the foreman what a scum bag where is his sense did he never have a bump in his driving career.
phil the book:
Please excuse my ignorance but what is a probationary period does this mean that you do the same work as a driver that has worked at the company for a few years for less money.Being a new driver should no way have any affect on your wages as for your accident no one was hurt the police were not called and what happened to the company beliving your account of the incident as apposed to the other party this shows yet again how a company works and what there view is of there staff.As for the foreman what a scum bag where is his sense did he never have a bump in his driving career.
Phil, the company I work for is a brand new venture and was only set up very recently. The first batch of drivers (myself included) were taken on in March of this year and we all started on a 6 month probationary period whereas, if everything goes to plan, after the 6 months our wages go up by 50p per hour. Well mine won’t now. Effectively I’ve now gone back to day one and the start of the 6 month probationary period again. Why they can’t give me the rest of my original probationary period (the next 3 months) to ‘redeem’ myself I don’t know (although I don’t believe I have anything to redeem myself for). As for the accident itself well I’m obviously guilty until proven innocent but I’ll not hold my breath. Driver foreman?..you learn the hard way who you can trust and I’m now adopting my wife’s philosophy…trust no one 
I drive an XF and have done for the last few months and I don’t find a problem with a blind spot low down, higher up from the two mirrors on the mirror arm and the A frame yes but not lower down. If a car is over taking me or simply beside me in queuing traffic I can always see it in at least one of the mirrors and/or out of either the side window or the front screen. It’s just a matter of adjusting the mirrors properly. I get back into it after someone else has used it and the mirrors are adjusted to see anything but what you need to, great if you forget who you work for as all you can usually see is the name on the side of the trailer.
I never even thought about the XF having a blind spot until I read this thread a couple of days ago and on my way back home over the last couple of days I was checking time and time again while being overtaken and I never lost complete sight of any vehicle as they went past me, whether it was a motorbike, car, van or whatever, and the same applied to cars stopped beside me, so I have to say no, I don’t find the XF has a blind spot for vehicles down by the passenger door at all.
Dunno then?:
by the way, did she have nice legs? they look ok from the pics?They look a bit chunky to me. Not that I can afford to be fussy
Look more like neckbreakers to me.
Coffeeholic:
I drive an XF and have done for the last few months and I don’t find a problem with a blind spot low down, higher up from the two mirrors on the mirror arm and the A frame yes but not lower down. If a car is over taking me or simply beside me in queuing traffic I can always see it in at least one of the mirrors and/or out of either the side window or the front screen. It’s just a matter of adjusting the mirrors properly. I get back into it after someone else has used it and the mirrors are adjusted to see anything but what you need to, great if you forget who you work for as all you can usually see is the name on the side of the trailer.I never even thought about the XF having a blind spot until I read this thread a couple of days ago and on my way back home over the last couple of days I was checking time and time again while being overtaken and I never lost complete sight of any vehicle as they went past me, whether it was a motorbike, car, van or whatever, and the same applied to cars stopped beside me, so I have to say no, I don’t find the XF has a blind spot for vehicles down by the passenger door at all.
that depends on mirror adjustment for any vehicle, i get into trucks after some people and wonder how they saw anything at all. the xf is worst if the mirrorsd are setup wrong…but thats just how people can see things in the mirrors
Just a question does your DAF have a Fresnel lens fitted to the nearside window? If not i’d suggest it to your boss that he gets them fitted if he doesn’t want similar accidents occuring in future, all trucks have blindspots in this area and the lens does help.
Can’t see why your probation should be extended as it’s only your first mistake, most companies have a three strike rule.
After a number of false claims my boss has had cameras fitted to the front of our trucks, the other week one of the artics had an incident where he pulled out to let a line of cars onto the motorway, dozy woman sped up the inside and pulled out too early into the side of his truck. They pull over woman gets out spouting typical anti lorry zb saying he pulled in on her etc, she soon shut up when he pointed out the camera had recorded everything, even though it only records what goes on at the front and not the side she believed it
Grayham:
Just a question does your DAF have a Fresnel lens fitted to the nearside window? If not i’d suggest it to your boss that he gets them fitted if he doesn’t want similar accidents occuring in future, all trucks have blindspots in this area and the lens does help.Can’t see why your probation should be extended as it’s only your first mistake, most companies have a three strike rule.
After a number of false claims my boss has had cameras fitted to the front of our trucks, the other week one of the artics had an incident where he pulled out to let a line of cars onto the motorway, dozy woman sped up the inside and pulled out too early into the side of his truck. They pull over woman gets out spouting typical anti lorry zb saying he pulled in on her etc, she soon shut up when he pointed out the camera had recorded everything, even though it only records what goes on at the front and not the side she believed it
Grayham, the fresnel lense is going to be my first suggestion tomorrow morning when I go in, we had them at Woodsides and I think they’re a great bit of kit. I was going to mention it on Friday but I obviously wasn’t thinking straight. As for the example that you gave about the woman running into one of your trucks thats exactly what my representative said during my meeting. The woman came up the inside of me so what’s to say she didn’t misjudge her manoeuvre and run into me and thats why I’m going to contest this decision and appeal.
dowahdiddyman:
Dunno then?:
by the way, did she have nice legs? they look ok from the pics?They look a bit chunky to me. Not that I can afford to be fussy
Look more like neckbreakers to me.
They were definite neckbreakers, as you put it
And can I just say a big thanks to everybody for their input. I’m going to print all this off and stick it under the bosses nose, I’d best not mention which orifice of the driver foreman I’m going to stick it in 
