Here goes nothing.
In a modern lorry there is no blind spot beside the vehicle, save the area directly behind the vehicle and those areas behind the main mirrors, the auxilliary down mirrors tend to be in places that don’t cause a problem.
Now then, main mirrors, we all know there are some serious failings here by makers, i’ll name Volvo (on previous model FM/FH), MAN current and Mercedes current in particular, and possibly next Scania if the pics i’ve seen are anything to go by and probably others, did they all employ the same redundant bedroom fitter who happened to have a job lot of wardrobe mirrors in his shed left over from his previous career so nailed thousands of the things up right in the drivers line of sight?
They are all bad designs, fairly decent mirrors it must be said but the housings are poor in that they add to the blind areas with useless plastic oversized mouldings, and they could easily all have left a gap in between the two mirrors to give the drive a bit of chance of seeing through…as other makers have done.
The much maligned T45 Roadtrain was a good bit of design in this respect, you do not need such a massive mirror on the drivers side because the mirror is obviously closer to the driver, win win in both vision and lesser blind spot.
Too many of the current designs have the front ‘down’ mirror in an unswept part of the screen too which is a very poor effort…what happened to the three wiper designs we used to have that would clear more screen, not fashionable?
Next thing, behind the passenger side windows, these are very necessary and should be fitted and it should be compulsory they are clear and not have curtains pulled across or other tat in the way…and on the subject of curtains, why do some of the tasselled curtain crew still hide behind anything from 30/60% of the curtain pulled across their own and the passenger side window? what is that all about.
My pet hate, poorly set and maintained mirrors and filthy windows and mirrors.
If the mirrors are set properly then each one will cover at least part of the area of the next one.
The main mirror is not for bird spotting, it needs to cover the side of the vehicle only to rear of body roof height, with most convex mirrors on an artic that will bring vision right down to in front of the drive axle.
The wide angle mirror whether above or below it should cover from about quarter way up the body and set as far out as possible so that it becomes your main blind spot mirror, that will cover a long way out and from the mid body right down to the back of the front steer wheel…that is the most important cyclist/pedestrian mirror on the vehicle.
The side down mirror should be set as wide as possible, that will cover from the edge of the door out about 6 to 8ft and from the second steer (if fitted) to about 3 ft in front of the cab.
The front down mirror again should be set far out, that will cover out about 3 ft from the front of the cab, about 3 ft out the n/s and the front drivers side corner.
All mirrors are overlapping each other like this.
It might seem pedantic stating this but some of the vehicles i get in i’m amazed the previous driver got them back at all without mishap, both n/s mirrors set for a combination of bird watching and a lovely view of the trailer, the side down mirror set to read the door signwriting…that mirror often enough seized in place…and the front down mirror useful for well nothing, and any combination of those.
Thats if you can see through the layers of grime mud salt and general filth coating the windows both sides, and the mirrors to boot.
Lastly we come to the person behind the wheel, it doesn’t take a genius to work out the people who steer vehicles in this condition arn’t bothered one way or another, if they were people who took a pride in their work the vehicles wouldn’t get this in the first place.
Dumbing the job down with electronics hasn’t helped our industry at all, if you dumb a job whatever the job is it attracts dummies and dummies do what dummies do whatever automation is fitted to stop them doing their worst, the only people who benefit from dumbing down are operators who pile it high and sell it cheap, it doesn’t attract the quality staff who want to take a pride in their work, its just another part of Britains race to the bottom where cheapest is king.
Why for example has the commercial test been dumbed down, aiding and abetting the decline from the start.
Controlled stop, gearchanging exercise both gone and the last brilliant one auto pass gets a manual ticket, good one chaps, but lots of box ticking to replace that hands on feel which a skilled examiner could judge on test, you couldn’t make it up.
There needs to be a complete rethink of our transport, deskilling and going for cheapest is not working, its obvious that its all aimed at eventual automation but we all know that’s generations away, if it will ever be suitable for Britain at all given in 50 years it’ll be standing room only.
In the meantime, those companies paying well (for normal working hours) with proper jobs which people would be sorry to lose don’t tend to have these problems for obvious reasons, and on the subject of hours it’s no longer bloody 1963, people should not be rushing round like a scalded cat or working 75 hour weeks to keep some pile it high and sell it cheap wide boys in business.
