Lens-Tech has added a lens solution to its product range to dramatically improve forward visibility on trucks fitted with peeper windows, effectively eliminating the blind spot created by windscreen pillars.
The company, which designs and builds Fresnel* lenses for commercial vehicles, has been applying its Hi-Vue lenses to peeper windows in the lower front doors of truck cabs, which have become increasingly popular since London’s Direct Vision Standard (DVS) came into force.
Positioned on the nearside peeper window in portrait format, the lens can improve forward visibility by 30 degrees. It allows the driver to see into the area obscured by the near-side windscreen pillar and mirror array, considerably improving their ability to spot anyone or anything in close proximity to the front corner of the truck.
“It’s very difficult to alleviate the blind spot created by the pillar and the truck’s near-side mirrors, and a pedestrian or cyclist hidden behind it is extraordinarily vulnerable,” says Les Haigh, CEO of Lens-Tech.
“DVS requires the achievement of the maximum amount of near-side vision you can get from the driver’s seat, so there’s a strong push towards getting those peeper windows into the doors. We’re discovering that there’s even more to be had from a lens in a peeper window, because of the huge blind-spot zone behind the pillar and mirrors, but if you attach our small A5 size lens to the glass in the right place, you’ll see around it.”
Lens-Tech’s Hi-Vue Fresnel lenses are made from PVC or acrylic, easily stick to glass using its peel-back self-adhesive and, at 21x 12cm, they take up a nominal amount of window space. The company’s lenses are fitted in peeper windows of most new Daimler Trucks and Kenworth models produced in the US, and they are also issued by National Highways to drivers of left-hand drive European trucks arriving at UK ports.
In trucks without peeper windows, they have traditionally been applied to the rear of the nearside passenger window in a landscape format, to increase visibility below the door – and to vans, to better the driver’s view along the nearside panel. No adaptation of the existing product is required for vehicles with peeper windows, it is simply a case of sticking the lens to the correct area of the glass.
Hi-Vue lenses represent an excellent low-cost solution for operators looking to make their vehicles safer. Prices start at £7.99 excluding VAT for individual PVC lenses or £7.49 for orders of 10 or more units. Orders can be made with the company directly (visit www.lens-tech.com for purchase and contact details) or through most of the UK’s truck component resellers.
