In the 'Swallows and Amazons' books, the navigation channel into the bay where they moored to land their sailing boats had a system of paint daubs on the trees - you line up two spots, one nearer the shore than the other, and as long as you keep those together you won't hit the rocks.

Putting a small flag or object on the nearside corner of my car and two corresponding flags/objects on the roof or in a near line could serve to illustrate the triangular blind zone where bikers and other cars (bigger, so less likely to miss in the first place though) are not easily spotted in my mirrors.

Not intended as a substitute for driver looking round before veering into another lane but preventative.
-- badgers, Jun 12 2004

i like this, having found myself in too many blindspots, but no american car buyer would ever allow markings on their car that they didn't put there themselves. how about instead, a projected light that is angled into the blind spot, level between driver's heads. as you pass through the blind spot, you would see this yellow warning light [neither bright, nor distracting].

the angles could be adjusted based on the driver's height and posture.
-- changokun, Jun 12 2004


I like this development - it also solves the problem of vehicles without angled rear quarters - such as vans, lorries and estate cars.
-- badgers, Jun 18 2004


Seems to me that this could be turned on its head, and the driver of the vehicle be warned that there is a motorcycle in the blind spot.
The motorcycle rider already knows where he is in relation to the other vehicle.
When the motorcycle is in the danger area, an optical or ultrasonic transmitter on the bike lines up with a directional receiver on the car (add on to the ultrasonic reversing aids?).
Since the motorcyclist shouldn't be in the danger area for too long, then the warning wouldn't be too annoying.
-- Ling, Jun 18 2004


Shine a light into the eyes of someone in a "blind" spot, eh? I suppose that would make the term apply to both drivers...

Seriously though, I generally consider the deafening noise of a motorcycle to be enough of a warning to me that there is one right next to my car.
-- luecke, Jun 18 2004


I don't like it. [-]. The more warning systems you have, the more complacent drivers become. I can just hear some driver now, after knocking over a biker at 60 mph, "well he shouldn't have been in my f-ing blind spot, I mean look - I've got these yellow dots on my car and all." Besides, you can tell if you're in a blindspot by looking into the car's mirrors - if you can't see the driver's face, then there's a pretty good chance you're in their blindspot.

Having spent a lot of time both riding motorcycles and driving work pick-ups with trailers and huge blind spots I think the best prevention step a driver can take is to have good, visible blinkers THAT ACTUALLY WORK (when was the last time you checked yours?) and that drivers actually use them (and I mean BEFORE they change lanes, not AS they change lanes). As a rider, I just go faster than the cars so I'm never in a blindspot for long.
-- Apache, Jun 19 2004



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