When it comes to avoiding accidents caused by blind spots, the best offense is a good defense—and the best place to start is by properly adjusting a vehicle’s mirrors.
The rear view and side view mirrors should be adjusted to provide an uninterrupted perspective of what’s going on around the vehicle. If any one of these mirrors duplicates the view of another, the mirrors are not adjusted properly.
Adjusting the mirrors takes only a few moments and should be done every time a driver gets into a vehicle that was used by another driver. Sitting in the driver’s seat, adjust the rear view mirror to provide a direct view only to the rear of the vehicle. For the driver’s side mirror, lean almost against the driver’s side window and adjust the mirror until the left side of the vehicle is just barely visible. From the driver’s seat, lean to the right toward the middle of the vehicle and adjust the mirror on the passenger side until the right side of the vehicle is just barely visible. When the driver’s head is perfectly upright, the right side of the car should not be visible.
To test for blind spots, have another person walk around the back of the vehicle and make sure that he is visible from every angle. The goal is to have zero blind spots relying only on the driver’s eyesight, rather than moving his or her head to monitor any movement from side to side or around the rear of the vehicle.
Another common blind spot is an area that is too low to see in front, to the side or behind a vehicle, especially for trucks, vans and SUVs with a higher driver’s seat position. A larger vehicle also has bigger rear, front and side blind spots, which make it difficult to see small children or vehicles when driving in reverse. Rear-view cameras can reduce this type of accident.
Some manufacturers offer blind-spot detection systems (BSD) in certain vehicles. When a driver is about to swerve into another vehicle, the BSD may trigger an audible warning, take limited steering control, or cause the steering wheel or driver’s seat to vibrate. Some systems even include sensors that warn of cross traffic when a driver is backing out of a parking spot, as well as cameras that can pick up adjacent-lane vehicles when they get within about 165 feet. BSDs are expected to be included in 20 million vehicles, or 25 percent of the world’s vehicles, by 2016.
With faulty lane changes accounting for about 10 percent of all traffic accidents, blind spots are a serious problem for every driver and every company with a fleet of vehicles. Until mechanical vision systems such as BSDs become standard, the fastest and easiest way to reduce the risk of accidents from blind spots may be as simple as ensuring every driver knows the proper way to adjust and use a vehicle’s mirrors. While it is sometimes necessary to glance sideways, it is safer to minimize the need for head movement. Although not all blind spots can be completely eliminated with mirrors or electronic devices, using them properly can help reduce accident exposure.
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012