Official 2012 © M-C NORTH AMERICA INC. | Convex Mirrors | No Blind Spot Mirror Technology | No Glare Mirror Technology | Transportation Mirrors

Mining Equipment	School Buses	Passenger Van
Logging Equipment	Transit Buses	Motor Coach
Farming Equipment	Postal Box Trucks & LLV	Mini-Coaches
Tractor Trailor	Construction Equipment

POSTAL Vehicle

Postal vehicles mainly use tractor-trailers, the utility van or box truck and also a creation distinct to the Post Office, the Long Life Vehicle (LLV).

The box truck or utility van
This is a very common type of vehicle on roadway today. They are used by the postal delivery, package and overnight delivery companies as well as most bakeries and snack producers. They are usually used in very high traffic areas of the city for deliveries and encounter the full congestion of city driving. These types of vehicles have not seen any type of new mirror technology for the last 70 years and continue to re-package the same 6.5 flat glass and 6.5 x 6 convex mirror technology that does not provide a safe and effective field of vision.

Field of view:

Looking at a postal vehicle as an illustration:

The following photo has been shown to include an overlay of the field of view the mirrors on the vehicle produce and the blind areas on a vertical plane along the side of the vehicle.

As the photo illustrates an area from the mirrors location on the truck to where the ground level can first be seen in the mirror leaves a triangular shaped blind spot along the side and bottom of the truck, including the immediate right front area of the truck.

This location cannot be seen by the driver in the seat on the other side of the vehicle even by turning the head and looking.The following photo has been altered to include an overlay of the field of view and blind areas the mirrors on the vehicle produce on a horizontal plane along the side of the vehicle.

The combination flat glass and convex mirror provide the driver a maximum view of 30-35 degrees.This in combination with the peripheral view leaves a blind spot along the side of the vehicle of approximately 30-35 degrees.

When the driver is changing lanes or making a turn objects or persons in this area cannot be seen by the driver either with direct vision or the mirrors on the vehicle.

Another common problem with the box truck type vehicle is the location of the door- mounted mirrors on the truck on the passenger side.

The configuration of these vehicles all produce a small triangular window on each side.The attached photo is from the drivers seat looking at the passenger side mirrors.The driver is forced to first focus on the small window to find the mirrors and then to look at what images the mirrors are producing.

It has been documented that having to view the mirrors through the side window takes time and creates a problem that could be resolved by moving the location towards the front of the vehicle so the mirrors can be seen with a glance to the right side of the windshield.