Modern cars are getting safer. But no matter how hard the designers try, they still cannot cope with some difficulties. We are talking about the blind spots of the car. Let's find out what it is?
Almost every car has a so-called "blind spot", when the car behind it disappears from the driver's field of vision. Yes, the car has a lot of rear-view mirrors, which make it possible to understand what is happening on the sides and behind the car, but given the features different bodies It's impossible to control everything. The blind zone is so large that both a motorcycle and a KamAZ truck can hide in it. So why is the dead zone dangerous?
The driver of the car, who does not see that the car coming behind him is overtaking him, can also start changing lanes, and this is an emergency. You can determine the blind zone on a car without movement. When the mirrors are adjusted in the car, everything seems to be visible, but it is worth making a small turn to the side, and now you are already in the blind zone.
It is possible and necessary to reduce the area of the blind zone. The main thing is to know how to properly adjust the rear-view mirrors. Left mirror rear view must be adjusted so that the edge of the inside sees the rear left fender. Right mirror rear view - so that the edge of the inside sees the rear right fender. To adjust the center mirror, you need to position it so that rear glass hit exactly the left edge of the mirror, and the right zone behind the car was visible. This is very important points. And that is why many cars with electric mirrors and seats have a memory function for the selected positions.
But there is one more blind zone that you cannot catch by adjusting the mirrors. It is located right behind back cars and dangerous when driving in reverse. This is where the rear view camera comes in handy. But pleasure is not cheap, and therefore it is not found on every car. It is worth being distracted for a second and you will not notice how a person comes up from behind.
By the way, the parking sensors do not always help out. For example, it is unlikely that he will respond to a small pin sticking out of the ground. So only care will save here. Before you move off, do not be too lazy to get out of the car and see what is happening behind. There is a proverb: “If you don’t look with your eyes, you will pay sideways!”
Surely, each of us at least once saw a curved mirror on the side mirrors of a car. It bears the terrible name "mirror dead zone". What is it, and what purposes does this "magic" device serve.
Dead zone - what is it?
A driver who has seen the views cannot be embarrassed by the question of a dead or blind zone, but a novice driver may well get confused and begin to recall footage from some horror movie. In fact, there is nothing terrible and terrible in this question. And it is desirable that every motorist, regardless of experience, knows about such things, because this concerns road safety. Moreover, it is better to know such information only in theory, and not having experienced it from your own experience. Although, it is through experience that many learn about this small, but very dangerous subtlety of driving a car. Like it or not, but driving experience and skill is sometimes tantamount to material resources that have to be spent on car repair shops.
The dead zone often becomes the cause of car accidents that occur with cars moving along the way. Often the situation is this: a novice motorist Vasily is preparing to rebuild in the last row, looking in the mirror rear view and, making sure that there are no other cars, proceeds to maneuver. A push, a rattle - a car that appeared from nowhere was touched. The motorist Vasily is confused, because there was no danger, and he looked in the mirror according to all the rules.
In fact, this "unexpected" car was moving a little behind, approximately flush with the rear sofa, behind the side pillar of Vasily's car. At this position rear car no longer visible in the rear-view mirrors, and it has not yet entered the driver's field of vision. This most invisible segment is called the blind zone. In reality, the cases are completely different. In case you did not manage to see the car moving behind, then there is a chance to get off with only a fright. The development of the situation, of course, depends on the size of the vehicles and the speed of movement. Motorcyclists call such a zone deadly. And this is no exaggeration. Therefore, if you are driving a motorbike, then be extremely careful, then you can avoid a fatal accident.
Dead Zone Detection Methods
In order to detect the dead zone of your car, you can resort to two very commonplace tricks. Ask your friend to walk around the perimeter of the car. At the same time, those segments where you cannot see it either with your own vision or in the rear-view mirrors are the desired blind zone.
In addition, it is possible to detect the blind spot when you had to stand in traffic jam. At the same time, your lane should not move, and neighboring cars should drive. Check your rear-view mirrors when a car moving in the next lane is out of sight. It is here that the blind zone originates, it will end where this car that has evaporated out of sight will appear due to the rack of your car. You can already detect it with your peripheral vision. For your safety, we advise you to conduct such experiments by stopping your car on the side of the road.
It should be taken into account that the increase speed limit permanently increases the blind zone. This fact takes place due to the fact that when moving at speed, the zone of the so-called peripheral vision of a person tends to narrow.
You will be surprised, but your car has another blind spot. It is located where the trunk of your car ends. It is dangerous when you maneuver in reverse.
Everything's under control
This danger is completely eliminated. Control dead zones motor vehicle necessary as scrupulously as other aspects traffic. First, you have to adjust the rear-view mirrors individually for your parameters. Their incorrect setting, as well as your incorrect driving position, lead to a decrease in visibility. This makes the blind spot of the car wider, and therefore more dangerous. In a correctly adjusted side rear view mirror, you should see a handle driver's door. The rest of the space should be occupied by the track.
Now on the market you can find a huge variety of car accessories, including rear-view mirrors with various optical effects. Among their wide range, you can choose a mirror that, with equal dimensions, provides a wider viewing angle. If your wallet allows you, it makes sense to change the standard rear-view mirrors to those that offer you elevated level safety in road traffic.
The most popular way to help narrow the dead zone of your car is to install an additional set of blind spot mirrors. Such a device has a very small size, convex shape and is mounted directly on the native side mirror of your vehicle. Such additional device significantly increases the visibility of the driver. But, alas, there is also a drawback. The device occupies part of the surface of the rear-view mirror.
Often, when analyzing an accident, traffic inspectors hear: “There was no one, where did he just come from?” As you know, any car has a so-called dead zone, it is also called a blind zone. What is she like, and why is she dead? - you ask. The thing is that structurally the car is designed in such a way that its visibility does not provide a 100% visible situation on the road. Rear-view mirrors are the main elements used to assess the situation on the roadway, and often drivers rely only on them. But can mirrors provide complete information content? Of course not.
When traffic flow comprises cars, buses and minibuses, then everything is simpler - everything is visible and everything is controlled. But suddenly, out of nowhere, a motorcyclist appears, right or left, and you shudder at the thought that you just wanted to change lanes and, having assessed the situation before the maneuver, did not seem to see any obstacles for this.
And it's all about the dead zone of the car - the zone is not available for review with the help of rear-view mirrors alone. So, where is the car's dead zones? In fact, when you adjust the mirrors correctly, you see the very edge of the left and right rear fenders and the view as far as possible, depending on whether you are looking left or right.
Every healthy person has peripheral vision, it is not large - only 180 °. The property of the eye is such that the higher the speed, the smaller the angle of peripheral vision. When a vehicle moving in parallel approaches the B-pillar of your car, the situation is that the driver no longer sees it in the rear-view mirror, and does not yet see it with his peripheral vision.
In this case, you just need to turn your head and make sure that there is no obstacle to rebuilding. But how often do we like to turn our heads while sitting in a comfortable chair, listening to music, or talking on the phone (of course, via bluetooth).
It turns out that motorcyclists have an even more terrible term: there is a “dead zone”, and there is a “death zone”. What is the difference you ask? When a motorcyclist is in a parallel row at a distance of 3-4 meters from the car, he is perfectly visible in the mirrors. But now he drives closer and is already at the level rear bumper at a distance of 1.5-2 meters from the car. rear pillar hides it, and it is not visible either through mirrors or with peripheral vision, i.e. no way. This is the dead zone of the car.
When a motorcyclist appears at the level of the B-pillar, only then does he become visible (noticeable). So the back of the car is a "dead zone" for a motorcycle, scooter, bicycle. And if you imagine a situation where the motorcyclist is on the right and he is not visible, and you need to change lanes, park or just turn right. Where would he go in this case? Hitting a curb? Fall into a ditch? Throw yourself under the wheels of another vehicle? This is what the "death zone" is!
It is terrible to imagine the consequences of such an accidental mistake! After all, in dense stream not only a motorcyclist can die, but also a huge collective accident can form from the fact that the motorcycle fell under someone's wheel.
Only mutual respect and frequent scanning of mirrors (every 2-3 seconds) will help get rid of emergency. If you are going to change lanes, do not be too lazy to turn your head and make sure that the lane you are going to take is free. Remember, if a motorcyclist is following you, then the "dead zone" for him is much wider than for a car, and in case of your oversight, it can become fatal!
In turn, I would like to say a few words to motorcyclists. Be careful, do not move in dead zones, adequately control the situation on the road, it can be very dangerous and fraught with serious consequences for you. Never overtake cars on the right, always think of "dead zones", "death zones", and remember that you are the least protected road user!
Let's imagine a situation: we are overtaken by a car moving in the neighboring lane, and it does not matter whether it is on the right or on the left. At first we see him perfectly in the rearview mirror on windshield, and after he began the rebuilding maneuver - in the side mirror. However, already in the process of overtaking this car disappears from our field of vision and, like a vampire, it ceases to be reflected in absolutely all your mirrors. It is this radius, in which the car overtaking you turns into a phantom, and is called the "dead zone".
However, one should not think that the concept of a "dead zone" is due only to an overtaking situation. In fact, such zones can occur due to obstructed visibility due to trees, houses, other vehicles, terrain features, and even design features vehicle.
The dead zone, many experts call the main cause of accidents
Any more or less competent driver knows what a "dead zone" is. But beginners have no idea about this danger, although there comes a time when they have to face it. Dry statistics indicate that the dead zone quite often becomes the cause of an accident.
European Commission and representatives of the International Union road transport(IRU) conducted a unique study in which it turned out that about 75%! of road traffic accidents involving trucks happen precisely because of the infamous dead zones appearing on the roads like black holes.
No matter how hard drivers try to lubricate the sharpness of the concept itself, calling the dead zone a blind zone, the essence of the matter does not change from this, and even more so, its danger is not diminished. Almost all drivers have their own recipes for how to avoid getting into the "dead zone" and keep the situation on the road under control. Alas, none of the existing recipes can guarantee one hundred percent safety. However, there are universal recommendations that will help both a novice and an experienced driver get out of any "dead zone" alive.
How to properly rebuild a car in a dead zone?
The standard blind spot emergency situation is as follows: you do not see a car in the "dead zone" and going to overtake. And you try to overtake yourself, thereby cutting off the “invisible car”. It is good if the driver of the car overtaking you has time to react and soberly assess the situation.
Most often, the instinctive desire in this case is an attempt to get away from the collision into the oncoming lane. And even if nothing terrible happens, then the car that ended up in the oncoming lane will be to blame for the accident. State traffic inspectors will not be interested in the fact that you tried to avoid getting into an accident - in this case, law enforcement officers are only concerned about the fact of the incident.
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The main thing is to keep the situation under control
So how to behave in the "dead zone" in order not only to avoid an emergency, but also to get away from long explanations with traffic cops?
No one is asking you to stop rebuilding altogether. You just need to look back once in the direction where the "dead zone" may appear, and make sure that there are no obstacles in the direction of your maneuver. A very short turn of the head and a look that does not exceed half a second will suffice. It is better not to look back for longer, because you can lose control of the situation that is developing right in front of you.
How to avoid the dead zone in practice
Technology does not stand still, therefore today, without any special difficulties, you can order such mirrors that make it possible to view almost the entire space around your car. However, even if you have such mirrors, do not neglect additional measures precautions.
The dead zone is often the cause of tragedies
For example, no magic mirrors will help you in the fight against the dead zone that exists behind the car. During the time that the driver got behind the wheel and started moving, the situation behind may change - a child or an accidental pedestrian was behind. In this case, you do not need to be lazy and it is better to make sure once again that there is no one behind the car.
Car through the looking glass: setting up the mirrors correctly
It’s worth mentioning one point right away - even properly adjusted mirrors cannot serve as a 100% guarantee of safety, but still this is an excellent application for staying in the club of motorists without accidents. Despite the latest scientific research, which allows car mirrors to be as efficient as possible, they are able to provide a viewing angle not exceeding 14°. You can, of course, install special spherical mirrors, but the thing is that they largely distort the perspective, which can also lead to an incorrect interpretation of the emergency situation that has arisen.
- Maintain a smooth riding style and try to avoid jerky movements. You always need to remain predictable for other road users and be able to observe the speed at which the general flow of traffic is moving.
- It may not be to everyone's liking, but driving with the window ajar can be beneficial in that it allows the driver to better hear what's going on outside. This will make it possible to always be ready for the unexpected.
The blind spot of a car is the space around the car that the driver cannot see from his seat. Such a zone is behind, on the side and even in front of the car. It happens that a passing car is no longer visible in the rear-view mirror, but it is also not visible from the side. Driving instructors they will tell us how you can protect yourself from getting into the dead zone as much as possible.
How to detect dead zone?
Finding the dead zone of your car is not difficult at all.
Once behind the wheel of a car, call an assistant and ask him to slowly walk around the car, and at some point you will lose sight of him.
So you have found the dead zone of your car. Also, you can find a dead zone while in a traffic jam, but on the condition that your lane is standing while others are driving. Just look in your rearview mirrors and see how any car disappears from your view. This way you will know the location of your vehicle's blind spots.
How to get rid of the limited visibility zone?
Everyone knows that you cannot completely rely on the image seen in the standard rear-view mirror. Some drivers change their regular mirrors to spherical ones, which increase the field of view by more far distance, thereby displacing the dead zone. But such a mirror can distort the real distance to the object.
The parking sensors can partially get rid of the vision problem when reversing, but, according to the principle of its work, it may not see small object, for example, fittings.
According to driving instructors, most effective way getting rid of the presence of a dead zone when reversing, there will be a rear-view camera in the car. But it will not save you from side dead zones. technical means to control the dead zones is to install sensors on the rear-view mirrors. When it enters the coverage area of such a sensor, a car located in the area limited visibility, a special signaling device notifies the driver about this. When changing lanes, first look in the rear-view mirrors, and then turn your head to shoulder level and see if there is another vehicle in the blind spot.
Why are dead zones dangerous?
Blind zones are the most common cause of accidents on the roads. If experienced driver knows about the existence of such zones, is wary of their appearance, then young and inexperienced driver, unexpectedly getting into such a zone, may behave incorrectly. Most often, trying to get away from a suddenly appeared car, the driver leaves for oncoming lane, causing a collision. Of course, you can’t do this, because, having driven into the oncoming lane, it is you who will be the culprit of the accident. Dead zones do not only occur when overtaking. The cause of the occurrence may be trees that obstruct the view, houses or other vehicles with a special design.
It is impossible to completely get rid of dead zones, but you can reduce their danger by setting up car mirrors correctly.
To do this, you need to place the horizon line strictly in the center of the mirror located on the side. Then adjust them so that the side of the car is slightly reflected in the mirrors, and the rest reflects the road. This is necessary in order to be able to determine the distance to other road users.
Dead zone video:
Excellent visibility on the road!
The article used an image from the site rscars.ru
