How big is the blind spot of a large truck? Do you dare to imagine it?

Traffic accidents caused by trucks turning in blind spots are not uncommon. Why do such cases always occur?

There should be two reasons for this: One is that large vehicles lack warning systems for other vehicles and pedestrians when turning. For example, the "voice reminder system-right" has been more common on commercial concrete trucks in the past two years. "Please note" was popularized a little late. Pedestrians dare to have close contact with trucks without knowing anything about the turning radius and wheel tracks. The consequences are naturally imaginable. The second is when non-motorized vehicles or pedestrians stop across the line. Failure to comply with traffic regulations is also a core factor in inducing such traffic accidents. Trucks are not necessarily the responsible party.

01

How does blindness form?

The characteristics of large passenger trucks are "tall and difficult to control", especially on relatively narrow urban roads. And a cab that is high enough will always have a large blind area, because the vehicle's rearview mirror and ground mirror will always have limits. The reflection range of the lens can reach at best two-thirds of the area on one side, close to the car body. One side, both sides of the front of the car, and directly in front of the front of the car are the so-called blind spots.

There is no way to solve the blind spot. In the era of smart cars, it can be overcome by using "360° panoramic images". However, the biggest problem is that the manufacturing cost of this system is still quite high, and currently no country or region in the world has adopted this configuration as a "production technology standard"; therefore, in order to control manufacturing costs, and users to reduce car purchase costs, Basic safety features on trucks tend to be very primitive.

The only way to deal with blind spots is to predict the road conditions. However, trucks are also very helpless when it comes to vehicles and pedestrians that always "jump for lights, cross lines, and run red lights." Because regardless of whether the party causing the traffic accident is a vehicle or a pedestrian, even if the vehicle is 100% not responsible, it will still be held responsible, and the management agency will also be implicated. Therefore, pedestrians are afraid of large trucks, and these professional drivers also hate vehicles and pedestrians that do not comply with traffic regulations.

02

Turn_wheel trajectory

Most people think that the four-wheel trajectory of a truck is the same when turning. The popular description is that the front wheel passes The rear wheel of the track will also press once, so the distance between the front wheel and the front of the car is far enough, and the vehicle dares to wait for the vehicle to pass. However, this is an absolutely wrong understanding, because the four-wheel driving trajectories of all cars are different when turning. The intersection point of the straight lines extending from the center of each wheel can be understood as the center of the circle. Refer to the figure below to feel the driving trajectory.

The "differential" is the basic configuration of a car. Its purpose is to ensure that the four wheels can rotate at different speeds when turning. The result is that the four wheels drive on different trajectories. This is the basis for ensuring that the vehicle can turn. If there is no wheel speed difference, the vehicle can only go in a straight line.

Summary: After understanding the running trajectory of the front and rear wheels of the truck and the blind spots, the natural thing to do is to "stay away from the big truck." It is recommended to keep the lateral distance at more than 3 meters. It makes no difference whether you turn left or right. As for "blind spot collisions", they mostly occur during right turns. The main reason is that most right-turn lanes are not restricted, and the rightmost lane is non-motorized. Lanes and zebra crossings, as well as the impact of isolated green belts, can easily cause non-motorized vehicles and pedestrians to be ignored (cannot be effectively recognized, not that they do not want to be recognized). But fortunately, large passenger trucks are easier to identify, so when riding and driving, you should not fight for the lane and just slow down in time when you find the vehicle.