TS HGV Near Side Blind Spot Lens (Fresnel Lens)

REDUCE BLIND-SPOT AND SIDE-SWIPE ACCIDENTS

A Fresnel Lens Helps Detect Other Road Users When HGV Drivers:-

• Turn left, - Right Hand Trucks
• Turn right, - Left Hand Trucks
• Make Roundabout lane changes
• Manoeuvre in ‘Tight spots’
• Make Motorway Lane changes

Accidents involving cyclists, motorcycles, pedestrians and cars when trucks are turning left are a major problem and accounts for more than half of all cyclists killed on London's roads when they are involved in collisions with HGVs. The Fresnel lens is one of the tools that has been produced as part of the campaign to help reduce the risk of this type of collision. By simply press fitting the clear lens to the passenger side window of your lorry, you can improve your vision of cyclists within close proximity of your vehicle and help avoid accidents.

Although the Fresnel Lens is a visual device for drivers, it is not a mirror. It is a clear, thin, flat plastic lens that is press fitted to a truck’s passenger door window glass. Its concentric ring surface allows the driver to see through it directly, (so it’s not a reflected view) however its optical properties provide a downwards view close to and around the truck’s passenger door. A Fresnel Lens therefore covers this mirror blind-spot which is the cause of so many accidents

CLICK HERE to view VOSA's report on the Fresnel Lens for HGVs

Following extensive trials, the Fresnel Lens is now seen as an important close proximity vision aid for HGV drivers. New legislation requires that by March 2009 existing goods vehicles are to be retro-fitted on the passenger side with mirrors that provide a wider angle of view and 'close proximity' mirrors that will enable drivers to see pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and cars when they are immediately to the side of the vehicle. However, a blind spot remains in an area adjacent to the vehicle's passenger door and it is this blind spot area which the Fresnel Lens particularly eradicates or at least reduces.

Motorway lane changing accidents involving lorries and cars is increasing in the UK. This has led to a rise in road casualties and road congestion. A major initiative by the Department of Transport, VOSA, and the Highways Agency to tackle 'side-swiping' incidents by issuing 130,000 Fresnel lenses to left-hand drive trucks entering through UK ports has resulted in a remarkable reduction of 59% in this type of serious motorway lane changing accident.