Poor Visibility a Danger
Page 16
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("NNE of the first features we are concerned with • 11/4.../when we take our seat in the cab of a vehicle is the degree of visibility which the construction of the cab and body permits. When we test a ballasted chassis we are not in a position to give an overall verdict as, in many cases, the type and size of body may seriously affect the driver's ease of mind at the wheel.
During the past few weeks we have noticed some shocking examples of drivers being tucked away in the cabs of vehicles fitted with capacious bodies of the removals type, which not only made reversing a highly dangerous business, but which made useless the employment of the ordinary pattern of cab signal.
Whilst we appreciate an operator's desire to mount a body of the largest possible cubic capacity on a given size of chassis, it is only fair to the person who has to handle the machine to arrange matters so that he will be able to give warning to following traffic as to his intentions.
The position occupied by the driving mirror is, in many cases, well inside the full width of the body, and the only thing the driver can see is the reflection of the body of his own vehicle. Apart altogether from the driver aspect, there is the important one affecting the safety of the public and other road users. In all such cases it would not be a difficult matter to fix the driving mirror to an unusually long arm, whilst, for signalling purposes, it might be found advisable to follow Army-Vehicle practice and arrange for a manually operated arm.
So far as reversing such a vehicle is concerned, it might be assumed that this would not be done without " helpers," but we have actually seen the movement carried out by a driver trusting only in his own skill coupled with a modicum of good fortune.
We seriously suggest that operators of any machines to which the foregoing criticisms apply, should take immediate steps to provide an effective driving mirror, and to arrange for some form of traffic signal that can be used equally well on each side of the vehicle.
Incidentally, a driving mirror which belies its name, and the inability to give effective signals from the cab, are offences for which. both the driver and the operator can be proceeded against by law.