HGV blindspots

A question about : HGV blindspots

Here is a repeat of a recent post on a thread about cycling, and my response to the post was ignored. But I think the issue of HGV blindspots is in urgent need of attention.

“Whether you're a fan of cyclists or not, I find it ridiculous that HGVs were ever allowed to drive through cities without being able to see all around at all times”

The post included an image of a bunch of cyclists who were purported to be invisible to the truck driver, and here is a link to the video from which the image was taken -

https://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/...ind-spot-36651

When I started driving HGVs in the late 1990s, I too found it ridiculous that truck drivers in general are perfectly happy to be unable to see all around at all times, and so I started to experiment with my mirror positioning.

If you watch the video carefully, you will see that nearly half of both nearside mirrors, especially the lower wide angle mirror, contains nothing but a reflection of the white-painted metalwork of the tractor unit itself. This is how most truck drivers set their mirrors. But the wide angle (convex) mirror is specifically designed to cover the so-called blindspot, and it is only effective if it is pointed in the right direction - it serves no purpose at all if it merely duplicates the contents of the main rear-facing door mirror.

When I first saw the video, I seriously thought that it was intended as a training video for truckers, rather than a warning to cyclists - if somebody had suggested to the camera-person that he/she should have tried moving both mirrors out a bit and down a bit - especially the convex wide angle mirror - and also taken the the trouble to take a proper downward look through the nearside window, then all of of the cyclists, including the yellow-clad cyclist alongside the near-side door, would have been visible from within the cab. If the yellow-clad cyclist had been closer to the nearside door, then he/she should have become visible in the downward-facing mirror which all modern HGVs have above the nearside door, and which is visible in the closing images of the video.

HGV blindspots are, IMO, completely avoidable, and I have many times tried without success to engage both cycle campaigners and other truck-drivers in a practical investigation of the issue. In the above link, there is a reference to a training rig which takes to the streets from time to time. Does anybody know the training rig’s programme - I would really like to attend one of its outings.

Best answers:

• So you were ignored on one thread, and have now started a second thread to complain about that.
  Have I got that right?
  If you really wanted a reaction/response to your post, they why didn't you ask again on the original thread?
• It won't be conventional mirrors that will solve this problem but the sort of sensors and cameras that we are now seeing from car manufacturers such as Ford and Volvo.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRSOLHDw_z4
• Odd that you should start one on this topic, as you other threads allude to a certain amount of tunnel vision.
• Every vehicle has blind spots not just HGV's, cars have them also.
  A cyclist should have the common sense to give HGV's plenty of room.
  If im driving along and there is a lorry ahead in the right hand lane i wont undertake it. too risky.
• How much of this is genuinely a problem and how much is just blame shifting?
  Yes there are blind spots, but if you put pressure on manufacturers to remove blind spots, the blame then falls on them..... But when they act, when they design something that's idiot proof, the blame is going squarely back onto the driver.
  HGVs are just another road user type and whilst most HGV drivers are brilliant, some are complete knobs, it almost always seems to be the later that gets involved in accidents and then inevitably starts looking for someone else to blame.
  When it comes to cyclists, 99% of the time, the HGV will have passed the cyclist at some point. so should they not already be aware of the cyclists presence and drive accordingly?
• The problem with trying to change user behaviour (be that mirror set-up or how people share the road) is that it simply doesn't work. For that to be a 'solution' relies on 100% of people doing things 100% correctly 100% of the time.
  What does work is improved infrastructure, where people don't die because someone (them or someone else - it doesn't matter) makes a mistake.
• If HGV blindspots are avoidable by repositioning mirrors then drivers should be doing it.
  Try looking for the training rig and getting mirror feedback here
  https://www.trucknetuk.com/phpBB/view...640d19555d81ac
  Hopefully with the affordability of vehicle cameras this will become less of a problem.
• I have watched many hours of crashes of all sorts on youtube etc.
  One posted on here recently Mr Angry? Overtaking a HGV vehicle on a bend and cursing that it needed slightly more than a single lane to complete the manouvre. Yes it was obvious to everyone else on the road the lorry was going to do that but he still overtook it.
  Yes you get cars cutting across cyclists, But you also get cyclists going far too fast for the conditions. One was a car that had issues, Smoke coming from under the bonnet, You could clearly see from the cyclists camera. The car was turning across the path of the cyclist but well ahead. yet the cyclist didnt slow one bit and crashed into the car.
  Yes ive seen some where even if the cyclist could blink and stop instantly they would still have hit a car pulling out.
  Some do need to slow down and ride according to the conditions. As i pass a school at 3:30 in a 30mph zone i wont be doing 30 if kids are crossing the road ahead. Why does a cyclist barrel along into obstacles in a similar fashion.
• Since my original post, I have discovered that other people have also challenged the usefulness of the TfL video - google it, and you’ll see for yourself.
  The thing that really surprises me is that crash investigators, not to mention the highly-paid legal beagles who sometimes get involved in the court cases which sometimes follow these avoidable deaths, seem to accept without question the unavoidability of HGV blindspots.
  Here is a link to a lengthy report which came out a few years ago, and which I read fairly carefully at the time - https://www.clocs.org.uk/wp-content/u...snelReport.pdf. At no point in the report could I find any reference at all to the question of whether or not HGV drivers in general make proper use of their mirrors.
  There are frequent references to the area around the front corner of the non-driver’s side of the truck, but cars and cyclists do not suddenly arrive there out of nowhere - they come from from somewhere else and their approach should have been obvious - their proximity should be no surprise at all to the observant/professional truck-driver.
• I drive HGV for a living, quite often in busy urban spaces. There are blindspots but these can be quite easily overcome. To put it simply, if you can't be sure that you will not be hitting something, either a solid object or god forbid a person then don't put the vehicle there. As another poster mentioned not only HGVs have blindspots, the size of the pillars in modern cars make the blindspots in those things frightening when you are used to HGV.