I’ve been a trucker in the past, when something similar happened (rock through side window) i bundled up in a skidoo suit and all my jackets, except the one I tied around my face backwards like a scarf with the arms and headed off back to the shop. I don’t know what sort of moron would do this but for Christ sake. EDIT: I’d like to retract all that. I failed to notice the hood mirror. It’s a convex and he could see what was going on in the drivers side. Truckers never bother craning their head, that accomplishes nothing anyways.

  • BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Are hood mirrors a substitute for side mirrors? Like do they have the full field of view so you can see the same things as you see on a side mirror? I’m doubting it myself.

    It’s also kind of irrelevant. It sucks that the window was broken but the driver should have gone to one place only and that was the shop to get the truck repaired (without duct tape on the window). Even then it’s arguable if even that should have been attempted as it was probably unsafe to drive either with duct tape or without duct tape in the Canadian winter and actually the truck probably needed towing or working on at the site of the accident.

    If they went off working then I’m really not surprised they got into legal trouble. They’d be facing manslaughter charges if they accidentally killed a cyclist because they couldn’t see them while delivering amazon packages or whatever his lorry/van does.

    I get that it’s the guys livelihood but these safety laws exist for a good reason, and he’s probably put his commercial license in jeopardy by his actions.

    • bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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      3 days ago

      Are hood mirrors a substitute for side mirrors? Like do they have the full field of view so you can see the same things as you see on a side mirror? I’m doubting it myself.

      Am trucker. Absolutely not. Hood mirrors are basically blind spot checkers and won’t tell you much about who is racing up the lane next to you until it’s too late.

      Plus you wouldn’t have any possible way to turn left safely.

      • Jamablaya@lemmy.todayOP
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        1 day ago

        I sincerely doubt youre a trucker. That hood mirror is a convex, much like on other trucks mounted under the wing mirror, quite literally the mirror you use to make sure it’s safe to switch lanes.

        • bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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          1 day ago

          Every truck I’ve driven has both. The hood mirror is further and gives much less view of the lane next to you.

          Here’s a comparison I just took -

          If I had to choose one to get rid of it’s the hood mirror no question. Ideally you check all three mirrors but the hood mirror shows much less to you. It’s just better at showing you that immediate blind spot.

          • Jamablaya@lemmy.todayOP
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            1 day ago

            Thanks for proving my point, Anyone else wondering about the veracity of what I said, open that hood mirror pic in another page and expand. Clear view of everything rear on the drivers side.

            • bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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              1 day ago

              It shows more to the side but it’s much much harder to see anything farther back compared to the door mirrors.

    • Jamablaya@lemmy.todayOP
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      3 days ago

      Lorry? are you an English thinking this guy was a local delivery driver in a short straight truck? (If cyclists on the highways ain’t on the right it’s their fault)

    • Jamablaya@lemmy.todayOP
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      3 days ago

      In his situation, yes. he can clearly see from his seat everything on his drivers side with that hood mirror. It looks nasty but I’d drive it. Like I said, i didn’t notice it initially. All a person would have to do is give a longer than normal spacing from your POV be to switch lanes than normal to be safe. People in cars don’t use their mirrors like truckers, truckers don’t shoulder check, there’s nothing in the line of sight if they do that. Most trucks don’t have hood mirrors like that, usually the wide angle convex is mounted on the door, not the hood. Honestly, he probably was heading for a shop, article is very light on details