Beware of blind spots and car accidents!
There are numerous causes for car accidents; the blind spot is one of those causes. A blind spot is the area behind a vehicle that a person can't see from the driver's seat.
Unfortunately, cars, SUVs, small trucks, mini vans, big rig trucks, and motorcycles all have blind spots.
To the typical car driver and small truck driver, we mistakenly think that big rig trucks have better visibility because of their size and height from the ground. That couldn’t be further from the truth because of their height ratio from the ground compared to that of a car or small truck, visibility becomes less verses better.
Like big rigs but on a smaller, more popular everyday scale, SUVs, pickups, and minivans have larger blind spots than passenger cars.
Blind spot accidents frequently occur when changing lanes or merging in and out of traffic or backing up.
How many times have you read a tragic story where someone was backing out of a driveway and didn’t see the small children playing behind the car?
Not seeing another vehicle or person or child is not an excuse. Don’t assume that the other driver or person will move out of the way. Drivers of all vehicles must be vigilant of these dangers.
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4 Comments
Terry Bennington
Unfortunately, the vast majority of drivers create the blind spots by incorrectly pointing their SIDE-view mirrors directly behind them. Those SIDE-view mirrors should be adjusted so as a vehicle moves from view in the REAR-view mirror it becomes visible in the SIDE-view mirror.
I drive a motorcycle as my primary means of transportation. I watch the SIDE-view mirrors as I am overtaking any vehicle; when I can't see the driver's face, I'm in the "kill zone." In 2011, I counted three drivers who had their mirrors adjusted correctly (not counting trucks driven by professional drivers).
If people learned to adjust their mirrors correctly, we wouldn't be having this discussion!
Michael Monheit
Terry,
This is a useful approach that you point out and you are not alone in calling for this. Here are two articles that illustrate your point. http://www.linquist.net/motorsports/tech/mirrors/ and http://www.caranddriver.com/features/how-to-adjust-your-mirrors-to-avoid-blind-spots
Amber Jean
Terry,
Unfortunately, it is incorrect that a driver is able to see the area behind their vehicle using their rear-view and side mirrors correctly. There is a blindzone behind ALL vehicles that the driver is not able to see, even when all mirrors are set correctly. For more information you can visit KidsAndCars.org's website.
Terry Bennington
Amber,
Yes - when backing-up there is a blind spot. Perhaps I should have indicated "while driving on the road, driving forward, changing lanes."
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