Safe Speed Forums

I paid a visit to the above event yesterday, and you often see a new idea being shown off.
I was very taken with this idea, it appears to have a lot of potential to help Truck drivers reduce some SMIDSY incidents during manouvring round corners and merging onto motorways for just two.

Any comments would be appreciated.


http://www.truck-view.com/

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

excellant idea. how much will they cost though? i bet the bosses wont fork out the cash since we are managing without them as we are

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
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Great idea. Will point it out to my gaffer, but I don't hold out much hope of it being fitted anytime soon...

Brilliant idea - not only those of you in the big ones that need this - usefull for any sort of vehicle where sideways visibility is reduced.

Though think the impetus will have to come from either HSE or the insurance companies.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

A full fitment to an artic costs just under £1600, it can be removed when the vehicle moves on and fitted to your new vehicle. Can be fitted in about 3 hours.
They reckon it will have paid for itself in 2 years by reducing accidental damage, by cutting corners and taking out bollards and the like
I had a play with the kit on a display stand, and they really are as responsive as advertised, does what it says on the box as it were.

Personally speaking, I like the idea very much, and would love to have a try.
Can you imagine doing your blind side reverses with that fitted?
A whole sight easier I would think.

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

Dratsabasti - thats the full whack for a HGV - any difference to that needed for say a 3.5 ton van - we've got the same problem - i always either get a passenger i can trust or get to a junction at right angles for that reason.Realise thes 3.5 t are minis to you ( son in law laghs at them) but same problem and we've got less protection than you.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I love the idea of tracking the trailer. That looks like a real benefit.

I'm not so sure about the 'pull out' left vision issue. After all truckers and van drivers have been working around this problem for years by simply positioning for vision at the junction. I suppose in a few tight and narrow junctions it might not be possible.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Paul, we will try to manouvre into a position that offers as much visibility as possible but that just isnt always possible. 2 particular areas that spring to mind are the new forest south of salisbury and fleet services on the M3. that services is a pain in the rear. the cars come from the left and have priority over trucks coming from the right. there is a recovery building in the way too which blocks the view. the simple solution would be to change the priority giving it too trucks. that way, we can carry on (helps to build up speed too) and the cars would have our exit road on their right anyway. i have emailled the relevant company but never got a reply. no surprises there

i sympathise with smaller commercial vehicle drivers too. at least we have extra mirrors on that side. transits etc are very poor when it comes to seeing anything on the nearside

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=126025031585

Completely with you there Scanny, believe it or not Paul, it's easier most of the time for an Artic, they can more often than not bend the unit round a bit, but Rigids have a very difficult time with this, they have to try and manouvre the whole vehicle, and that's not always possible.
As for the smaller goods vehicles, that is a very valid point, don't know whether that one has been addressed.
Might be an idea to contact the company, and ask, before you put it to your boss.
I can't see a problem though, just use a smaller, in height, mirror.

I had the rigid problem illustrated to me on my very first lesson in one. Fortunately the instructor took pity on me, but I never forgot that one.

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

smaller vehicles could struggle to fit these things. the mirror arms are different. an HGV has a bar which runs down behind the mirror glass which allows free movement round the axis (the bar) but smaller vehicles dont have that. they only have the plastic attachment to the vehicle similiar to any car and the mirror will have limited swivelling space

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=126025031585

Don't Transit-sized and smaller vans have electric mirrors anyway? I can see how the automatic trailer tracking part of this system would be useful on an HGV (I proposed a vaguely similar system for covering the blind spot on the other side of a cornering HGV...), but on a rigid body truck/van that isn't an issue, so wouldn't the other parts of this system simply be like electric mirrors on steroids - i.e. faster response time and potentially wider field of view (as scanny says, this would depend on how the mirrors are mounted)?

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Chris

Smaller vans ---??/ perhaps.The bog standard transit ---in this day and age , ABS is standard , a heater is standard , the ciggie lighter is now an "alternative power source" , the second "alternative power source" is just a hole in the dash, two mirrors standard - anything else ( unless you work for a very benelovent employer) is extra.Mirrors - you adjust them from outside , unless you're lucky enough to have a mate.

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Electric adjustable & heated mirrors on my Transit....

...oh yeah, I'm the fleet manager as well

Joking apart, electrically adjusted mirrors can reduce blind spot a lot at junctions; I tried yesterday after reading this thread.

I know it , you know it, a lot of fleet managers know it, but try convincing the accountants and the leasing companies as a lot of companies lease their vehicles and i suspect insurance is kept to the bone, so there's no chance a reduction in insurance will change their minds.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Very fair points all, but I can't think of a standard electrically operated mirror that would give you the view that this system does, and automatically return the mirror to the correct position.
If I was buying/leasing my own truck, I would specify this system even if the lease cost me more.
It would pay for itself, not just in accident damage, but in reducing twisted neck injury.
On the A180, there are two service stations, both of which are pigs to pull out of, would be made vastly easier to get out with this system fitted.
The number of Motorway services that think Truck and Van drivers can see through solid steel to see to give way to the left is unreal.
As for blind side reversing, even the wide angle mirror doesn't give enough vision, and it is also distorted by the extra magnification.
Anything that makes the Truck drivers life easier, almost automatically makes for better road safety.

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Semper in excreta, nur quantitat variat.

most trucks are fitted with electric mirrors these days but not to that kind of degree and they are slow. certainly not much use for the job that this new concept is designed for

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Richie

SSAFA supporter
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=126025031585

I am the UK Sales Manager for Truck-View Ltd and have read your comments with interest.

You are quite right in terms of companies being very careful on expenditure on this type of product for obvious reasons. Large fleets can demonstrate that they spend £700-£800 per vehicle per year (excluding RTA’s)). This includes workshop labour, parts, driver waiting time, substitute tractor/trailer units, insurance etc. etc. Small fleets will tell you that they don’t spend anything like that, but in reality they do, they just don’t measure it (they tend to just count the costs of the parts). Given this level of expenditure Truck-View will pay for itself in around two years, depending upon operation. Leasing companies tend to go along with what their customers want and are generally happy to fit the system and include the cost over the life of the vehicle.

The only real way to appreciate just how it works and the associated benefits is to see it for yourself. There is a forthcoming feature on Truck-View later this month in Commercial Motor, as well as an item in a CV Show special to be screened on Men & Motors on Sky TV at 9:00 pm on 12th June. We will also be attending the Truckfest events in Kent, Somerset, Haydock & Edinburgh on the JOST-GB stand, who are the UK distributors.

We do have long term plans for a van version of the system, but this is some way off yet.

If you would like to find out more first hand please make contact with a phone No./email address.