Probably the most important safety tool on trucks is the rear view mirrors. Incorrectly aligned and insufficient numbers of mirrors only add to the ?Blind Spot? problem, yet when used properly, mirrors can almost completely eliminate those ?Blind Spots?.

The purpose of mirrors is to allow the driver to see everything possible behind and around the vehicle. It is NOT to allow the driver to see themselves as they trundles down the highway or to see how pretty the rig is from the driver's seat.

Correctly positioned and aligned mirrors can allow a driver to see at least the complete width of lanes on either side, leaving only a narrow blind spot directly behind.

West coast or equivalent mirrors should be set as far forward as possible to eliminate as much head turning as you can. These mirrors, when positioned where the manufacturers and trucking companies like to have them will create three unsafe problems! One, to look into the side mirror a driver must turn his head so far that he loses peripheral vision of their forward view and cause the driver react slower to sudden braking or any other event they need to respond to as fast as possible. Two, by not having the side mirrors arms swung as far forward as they can be positioned it creates a situation where there is not enough flowing air across the mirror to dry it off in wet conditions, even causing the mirror to freeze over in cold weather. Three, the driver can not see out the passenger side window properly because the mirror is blocking the view therefore creating a dangerous blind spot and not helping matters much, the driver's side mirror being pulled back so far creates nearly the same problem, just putting the blind spot towards the front of the driver's window where the vent window is or would have been if so equipped.

Adjust the mirrors arms as far forward as possible while still being able to see in the mirrors and much of all three problems are solved, by doing this you will still have some peripheral vision forward when glancing in the side mirrors. This positioning of the mirrors arms forward will be a tremendous help in keeping the mirrors cleared off during wet conditions. Now with this correct positioning of the mirror arms and the mirrors the driver can turn their head ninety degrees in ether direction and the view is not blocked by the mirrors thus creating a safer situation at stops, intersections and turning in ether direction.

Finally some other important factors to consider while aligning you truck mirrors, set each mirror only to be able to see the trailer in the first eighth of mirror, you also should be only able to see the ground just in front of the trailer tires. Once your mirrors are set this way you can now position the spot mirrors on the arms and the fenders to cover down the sides of the truck and trailer. When selecting the spot mirrors to put on the truck, find the ones with the most curvature to the glass as this will cover more viewable area.

An added bonus from setting the mirrors up properly is that it greatly reduces problems when maneuvering in tight areas, thereby reduces the possibilities of a accident. Truck driving schools need to put more emphasis on mirror positioning, as this would lead to a much safer driver coming out of this type of training.

Publisher of www.MisterTruckDriver.com,

Charles D. Henry Jr.

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