Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 25 -
Questions: How large trucks turn right blind spot safety problems to crack?
Xinhua News Agency "Xinhua Viewpoint" reporter Wang Chenyang, Fang Lie, Wang Yang
"Encounter a large truck on the road, stay away from it." Behind this simple common sense, there were one tragic accident after another.
"Xinhua Viewpoint" reporter's investigation found that large trucks are particularly prone to accidents when turning right, and even become the type of traffic accident that causes the most deaths in some cities.
There are frequent right-turning accidents of large trucks, which have a lot to do with the blind area of vision.
Is there a way to crack the security blind zone?
Turning right of a large truck is prone to accidents
When large freight vehicles, engineering transport vehicles and other vehicles turn right, because the driver’s blind area of vision is large, it is easy to draw non-motorized vehicles and pedestrians going straight in the same direction into the underside of the vehicle. This is called "cannibalistic right turn" by industry insiders.
According to large truck drivers, the traffic safety problems caused by the right-turn blind zone mainly occur in urban areas, especially when bicycles and pedestrians are mixed in the motor vehicle lane at traffic intersections. Drivers need to observe more targets and easily overlook the blind zone. It is easy to get in pedestrians, bicycles, and electric bicycles.
Schematic diagram of the blind spot when a large truck turns right. Provided by Jinan Traffic Police
"We are also very worried about the safety of the blind spot when turning right." The truck driver Ma Jun said, "Once an accident occurs, the cost will be too great, so we are always careful when driving in the city."
According to statistics from the Hangzhou Traffic Police Department, in 2019, a total of 65 people were killed in heavy truck right turn accidents in Hangzhou, accounting for 28.76% of the deaths in heavy truck traffic accidents; in 2020, heavy truck right turning accidents caused 64 deaths, accounting for heavy truck traffic accidents 33.33% of deaths.
"Heavy truck right turn accidents have become the most fatal type of road traffic accident in Hangzhou. In other cities, this type of accident is also one of the types of accidents that cause more deaths." The traffic management department of the Hangzhou City Traffic Police Detachment is responsible. Cao Qibing said.
Right turn on the road, blind zone warning zone, provided by Jinan traffic police
While the right-turning accident is caused by the driver's negligence and negligence, the more important reason is the hidden danger of blind spots caused by the design of large trucks.
Wang Qingzhou, an associate professor at the School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Hebei University of Technology, once did an investigation and research on this.
He said that many vehicles have blind spots for turning, but the blind spots for large trucks are the largest.
Generally speaking, the longer the body length, the larger the blind zone.
In fact, there are blind spots in buses and other vehicles, but the blind spots are relatively small.
"This kind of blind distinction is divided into two types: one is the inner wheel difference blind zone, which can be understood as the angle between the front axle and the rear axle of the vehicle is different. The longer the distance between the two, the larger the blind zone; the second is the blind zone of the rearview mirror. There is an articulated shaft between the tractor and the trailer, which forms a certain angle. When the tractor turns right, the trailer still goes straight." Wang Qingzhou said.
Promote "right turn must stop" in many places
In order to prevent right-turning accidents of large trucks, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Nanjing and many other places have stipulated or advocated "right-turning must stop", that is, drivers of large vehicles should stop after entering the intersection and then take a look to ensure safety before starting.
This "stop" may only take a few seconds, but it leaves a safe time.
Since the beginning of this year, the Shanghai Traffic Police Department has set up isolation barriers at some intersections in Pudong, reminding large trucks passing by that they must stop when they turn right, and adopting "electronic police" monitoring measures.
After a period of practice, good results have been achieved, and the casualties at intersections have dropped significantly.
Since then, the Shanghai Traffic Police Department has selected 43 intersections and installed warning signs, requiring large vehicles to stop once before making a right turn.
Failure to follow the regulations will be punished with 3 points and a fine of 200 yuan.
"The company has nearly 80 large vehicles. After the implementation of'right turn must stop', we supervised all vehicles from technology, personnel, and equipment. Supervisors were arranged to view the vehicle's trajectory in real time. "Stop" will be reminded in real time through the background." said Nie Guojie, executive deputy general manager of Shanghai Yongyu Industrial Development Co., Ltd.
In addition, the traffic police departments of Tianjin, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Hefei, Kunming and many other places have also marked out "right-turning danger zones" at intersections where large trucks pass by, and painted them in conspicuous red or yellow to warn large truck drivers. And pedestrians.
According to Sun Rubin, head of the traffic police brigade in Licheng District, Jinan City, Shandong Province, the local area has adopted a "air + vehicle + ground" right-turn blind zone stereo warning system for large trucks, and an adjustable angle convex mirror is installed in the air to help drivers eliminate blind spots. Set up reminders; promote the installation of alarm systems on vehicles, and use distance detectors to eliminate blind areas; mark the blind area warning areas on the ground.
Since the construction of this warning system, fatal accidents involving large trucks turning right into blind spots have dropped by 50% year-on-year.
Li Jianming, deputy director of the Hangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau and head of the traffic police detachment, believes that effective measures should be taken from the sources such as vehicle safety design standards to prevent continuous tragedies from unfolding in response to the outstanding problems of large truck accidents.
Technology upgrade is imminent
The reporter's investigation found that there is indeed a blind spot loophole in the vehicle design of large trucks, and a number of current national standards have not yet made clear requirements for this.
According to Wei Jian, an expert on intelligent perception technology for Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles, blind spots are an inherent problem determined by the vehicle structure. There are already some solutions, such as installing protective devices under and on the sides of large trucks, and voice prompts when turning vehicles, but There is still room for improvement.
In response to the problem of security blind spots, a number of interviewed companies introduced different technical solutions: one is to install one or more cameras in the rearview mirror of the vehicle, and when there is target information in the monitoring area of the camera, it will be reminded by sound or visual signals. The driver; the second is to install a pair of millimeter wave radars on the front and rear wheels of the vehicle. If the radar detects a nearby target, an audible and visual alarm will be issued in the cab; the third is to project a light warning from the vehicle, which can be used for driving at night In the environment, flash or red light and shadow are used to allow pedestrians or other vehicles to detect entering the dangerous area in time.
The truck driver Wang Xiaowei said that his vehicle was equipped with 4 surveillance cameras and posted warning signs, which would cost an extra 1,200 yuan.
"In fact, many card friends support technical upgrades. Surveillance cameras can not only eliminate blind spots, but also prevent porcelain from being touched, but also prevent goods or diesel fuel from being stolen."
Other countries also have some lessons worth learning from.
For example, the right side door of the vehicle is equipped with a door observation window, commonly known as "OK mirror", which is about the size of a computer screen; through this observation window, the area on the right side of the vehicle can be directly observed.
Some Japanese companies have adopted this scheme, and some Chinese companies have adopted this scheme.
Wang Qingzhou said that to promote the update of the national standard for large trucks, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments need to follow up.
The person in charge of a leading company in the industry said frankly that the company is not afraid of strict national standards, but it is best to avoid local standards; if the local standards are not compatible, the car factory will not be able to do it.
In order to reduce costs for consumers, it is recommended that the state issue regulations that if large trucks have a certain level of safety protection, insurance rates can be reduced.
The insurance premium for large trucks is very expensive, tens of thousands of yuan a year; if the insurance premium is discounted, the effect of promoting the installation of safety equipment on the vehicle will be obvious.