How to Stay Out of a Truck's Blind Spots

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How to Stay Out of a Truck's Blind Spots: "

Driving alongside tractor-trailer trucks is a part of everyday travel for most of us. However, many motorists don't realize that big trucks have blind spots and erroneously assume that by being higher up, the truck driver must be able to see them.^[1] And many drivers, especially newer ones, don't know where a trucker's blind spots are, which can lead to dangerous incidents in which the passenger car bears the brunt of the outcome. This article will tell you how to stay out of a truck's blind spots.

Note: This article is based originally on right-hand traffic. Where it is not already clarified within the article, assume that you'll need to adopt the opposite side if applying these instructions to a left-hand traffic system.

Steps

1. Know where all the semi-truck's blind spots are. A blind spot is where the driver loses sight of other vehicles.^[2] Understanding the location and scope of each blind spot or 'no zone' can help you avoid them. The image details the no-zones.
   
   
   
   
   
   • There is a blind spot directly behind the truck. There is a 'no zone' on each side of the truck that can span for several lanes.
     
   • There is a blind spot in front of the truck that encompasses the lane the truck is in and one lane to the right.
     
   • There is a blind spot beside the truck's right door (left door in countries that drive on the left side).
     
   
   
2. 
   Be patient. When sharing the road with trucks, it's important to drive carefully and to realize that trucks cannot maneuver quickly in an emergency situation.^[3] Being patient is as important as knowing where the truck's blind spots are.
   
3. 

   A bit more distance would be preferable here
   Do not follow a truck too closely. By staying close behind a truck (also known as 'tailgating'), you'll be in the truck's rear blind spot, and if the driver isn't aware of this and makes a sudden stop or maneuver, you're at risk of rear-ending into the truck. The best distance is about 20 to 25 car lengths behind a truck.^[4] This is also known as maintaining a four second following distance.^[5] In poor weather conditions, this gap should be even longer.^[6]
   
   • It is also dangerous to pass from a position too close behind a truck as you cannot see the traffic ahead clearly.
     
   • Trucks traveling at high speeds create a lot of wind pressure, which is another reason for not staying too close.^[7]
     
   • At night time, when following a truck keep your headlights on low beam because the truck's side mirrors can reflect the light back into the car driver's eyes.^[8]
     
   
   
4. 

   Only one mirror can be seen; this car needs to pass fast
   Keep both (left and right) truck mirrors in your sights as much as possible when traveling behind a truck. If you can see the driver's face in his mirrors, then it's likely that he can see you. The moment that you cannot see the driver's face in the truck's side mirrors, he can't see you any longer.^[9]
   
   • If you lose sight of even one of the mirrors, the truck driver can no longer see your vehicle.
     
   
   
5. 

   A little too close to the truck behind
   Give plenty of space when driving in front of a truck. Ensure that there is ample room when you change lanes in front of a truck.
   
6. 

   This is not a good passing move; the left side is safer
   Pass or overtake a truck with care. Do not pass or overtake a truck on the right hand side (left hand side in countries that keep to the left); this is because a truck's blind spot on the right runs down the length of the trailer and extends out three lanes!^[10][11]
   
   • Signal your intention to pass early on and clearly. Be certain that the passing lane is clear before pulling out - bear in mind that it takes 25 seconds to pass a large truck on the open road.^[12]
     
   • Pass quickly to stay out of the truck's side 'no zones' area. Do not linger beside a truck but pass quickly. If you cannot pass a truck quickly, it's best to fall back behind the truck so you can be seen again.
     
   • Keep in mind that you may be subjected to turbulence when pulling out from behind the truck and when passing back in front of it.^[13] This impacts small cars and motorcyclists the most.^[14]
     
   • If passing or overtaking on the crest of a hill, remember that trucks speed up on the downhill.^[15]
     
   
   
7. Avoid cutting in too soon after passing. Truckers sit high and the hood of the cab hides part of the road in front of them.^[16] You should be able to see the entire front of the truck (or both of its headlights) in your inside rear-view mirror before you pull back in front of a truck.^[17] A truck requires twice the amount of time and space to stop as does a car.^[18]
   
   • Do not decelerate immediately after pulling in front of a truck after passing. You may still be in the driver's blind spot. Even if you are seen, given that it takes longer for a truck to slow down or stop, the driver may not be able to stop in time. Instead, keep traveling fast to create a distance of about 10 car spaces between you and the truck.^[19]
     
   
   
8. 
   Do not drive along a truck's right-hand side when the truck is turning right. A truck needs a wide berth in order to clear the turn, requiring additional lanes. When turning, the driver cannot see any vehicles on his right. This is also important for motorcyclists and bicyclists; do not attempt to slip past on the right while a truck is turning or is stopped at an intersection.
   
   • Give more room than usual if you're behind a truck that's turning right. The driver has to swing wide to the left and his trailer will block the vision of any cars behind him.
     
   
   
9. 
   Pay attention to a truck's brake lights and turn signals. These lights may be the only indication that a truck cannot see you. If a truck is about to turn or change lanes, be patient and wait your turn to do whatever it is you were intending.
   
10. 
    Blow your horn if you see the turn signal on your side come on or if you notice a truck start moving into your lane. You are in a driver's blind spot if you notice this.
    
    • It is your only warning to a trucker that you're in the place he or she is trying to go. Hit your horn several times if necessary.
      
    • Attempt to move over a lane or onto the shoulder while blowing your horn. This might prevent your car from being hit if the driver still doesn't notice you.
      
    
    

Video

Tips

• When passing a truck during rain or snow, place your wiper blades on high to ensure that your visibility is not impeded at any stage.^[20]
  
• Always signal well in advance of turning or stopping; this gives trucks plenty of time to know what you're about to do so that they can slow down or change their pace.
  
• When a truck is overtaking you, ease back on your car's speed. Doing so will ensure the truck gets past you faster, meaning you'll be out of its blind spot sooner.
  
• This advice also applies to other large vehicles such as buses.
  

Warnings

• Never walk behind or drive around a truck that is reversing or preparing to reverse. The driver's blind spot may cause the truck to hit you unknowingly.^[21]
  
• If you're driving a truck, get out and check behind your truck before reversing it. If you have safety cones to denote a keep-out area that you're reversing into, make use of them.
  
• Never cut in front of a truck that is slowing down to stop.^[22] The truck will not be able to stop any faster than it is already doing.
  
• If you pass a stationary truck, reduce your speed just in case the driver steps out onto the road; he may not be able to see you.^[23]
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Set Rearview Mirrors to Eliminate Blind Spots
  
• How to Find Your Blind Spot
  
• How to Get Rid of Your Blind Spot
  
• How to Drive a Car Safely
  
• How to Drive Safely in the Rain
  
• How to Be a Safe Elderly Driver
  

Sources and Citations

• http://www.truckdriversnews.com/blind-spots-learn-them-and-live/ http://www.truckdriversnews.com/blind-spots-learn-them-and-live/ – research source
  
• http://www.carinsurance.com/Articles/content175.aspx http://www.carinsurance.com/Articles/content175.aspx – research source
  
• IINC, Truck Blind Spots and Stopping Distance Focus of Highway Safety Demonstration, http://www.iinc.org/articles/362/1/Truck-Blind-Spots-and-Stopping-Distance-Focus-of-Highway-Safety-Demonstration/Page1.html – research source
  

Comic for February 23, 2011

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Chit Chat With Rajendra Prasad and Suhasini

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స్పైసీ ఎగ్ కుర్మా

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స్పైసీ ఎగ్ కుర్మా: "

కావలసినవి:

ఉడికించిన కోడిగుడ్లు.. నాలుగు

ఉల్లిపాయలు.. రెండు

పచ్చిమిర్చి.. ఆరు

పాలు.. ఒకటిన్నర కప్పు

జీలకర్ర.. 3 టీ.

ఆవాలు.. ఒక టీ.

కొత్తిమీరపొడి.. 2 టీ.

ధనియాలు.. ఒక టీ.

గరంమసాలా పొడి.. రెండు టీ.

నూనె.. తగినంత

ఉప్పు.. సరిపడా

తయారు చేయు విధానం:

ముందుగా పచ్చిమిర్చి, జీలకర్రలను కలిపి కాసిన్ని నీళ్లుచేర్చి మిక్సీలో మెత్తగా రుబ్బుకోవాలి. స్టవ్‌పై బాణలి ఉంచి, నూనె పోసి, వేడయ్యాక ఆవాలు, ధనియాలు వేసి రంగు మారేదాకా వేయించి, ఉల్లిపాయ ముక్కల్ని కూడా వేసి వేయించాలి. తరువాత అందులోనే పచ్చిమిర్చి ముద్దను కూడా చేర్చి 5 నిమిషాలు ఉడికించాలి. ఆపై అందులో పాలుపోసి కలియబెట్టాలి. ఈ మిశ్రమం ఉడుకుతుండగా అందులో ఉడికించిన కోడిగుడ్లు వేసి మూతపెట్టి సన్నటి సెగపై ఉడికించాలి. కూర దగ్గరవుతుండగా, అందులో తగినంత ఉప్పు, గరంమసాలా పొడి, కొత్తిమీర పొడి వేసి కలపాలి. అలాగే మరో ఐదు నిమిషాలు ఉడికించి దించేయాలి. అంతే రుచికరమైన స్పైసీ ఎగ్ కుర్మా తయారైనట్లే..!

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Carrot Methi Pachadi

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Carrot Methi Pachadi: "

Carrot Methi Chutney

I have been under the weather for a while. Well, the effect of seasonal changes! Feeling much better now and am back after a much needed break.

Am blogging a favorite recipe today. It includes my favorite greens and vegetable – methi and carrot. Love the refreshing colors and flavor combination of carrot and fenugreek in a pachadi avatar. Clean, simple and delicious.

Carrot Methi Pachadi Recipe

Prep & Cooking: 30 mts

Serves 4-5 persons

.

Ingredients:

2 cups grated carrot

1 cup fresh methi leaves, loosely packed

1 tbsp split black gram dal (minapa pappu)

1 tbsp Bengal gram (senaga pappu)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1-2 dry red chillis (adjust to suit your spice level)

4-5 garlic flakes

1-2 green chillies (adjust)

1 tbsp grated jaggery (adjust)

salt to taste

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp oil

For the tempering/poppu/tadka:

1 tsp oil

1/2 mustard seeds

1/2 tsp split gram dal

8-10 curry leaves

1 Heat half a tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan. Add the garlic, cumin, split gram dal, bengal gram, red chillis and mustard seeds and stir on medium heat till the dals turn slightly red and a nice aroma emanates. Immediately remove the roasted spices, and keep aside.
2 In the same pan, add a tsp of oil if required, add the slit green chilli and grated carrot and on medium flame saute till the rawness of carrot disappears (approx 3-4 mts). Remove and keep aside.
3 In the same pan, add another tsp of oil and saute the methi leaves for 3 mts. Remove from heat and cool.
4 Grind the roasted dal mixture first, followed by the sauteed carrot and methi, jaggery along with salt, to a coarse paste without adding any water.
5 Heat oil in a pan for the tempering, add the mustard seeds, let them pop and add the split gram dal and curry leaves and fry till the dal turns red. Add this seasoning along with lemon juice to the ground pachadi. Serve with hot steamed rice.

"

How to Take Better Product Photographs for Free

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How to Take Better Product Photographs for Free: "

Bad (top) and much better (bottom) product photography.

Need great product photographs for an eBay auction, your website, or maybe even putting in an article on wikiHow? It doesn't require a studio or expensive off-camera lighting, and certainly not calling in a professional photographer to do it for you. With a little thought put into your photography and post-processing, you can make your own great product photographs with things you already have. Here's how.

Steps

1. 

   Clean your product meticulously; every bit of dust you didn't know was there will become very obvious in photographs.
   Clean the product meticulously. Grease shines and dust can sparkle; at high resolution, today's digital cameras can show every last speck and fingerprint. Soft light makes dirt stand out less, but the sharpness you want for everything else will show the dirt too.^[1]
   
   • Use a soft, clean, low-lint cloth such as a cotton terry towel. Rubbing alcohol leaves no residue and is safe for most non-plastic modern surfaces (Rubbing Alcohol may damage plastics, and can cause clear plastic to become foggy), but very dilute soapy water is gentler to some. Spot test an inconspicuous area first if in doubt.
     
   
   
2. Get outside. An overcast day is best. If it's a nice day, head for 'open shade': an area shaded from the sun but open to much of the sky. These areas are more plentiful in the morning and evening; at midday, you'd have to get under something. You want nice, soft, diffuse light; what you don't want is the sun directly facing into your setup.
   
   You can also work inside close to a big unshaded window which the sun isn't shining into directly. This is dimmer, so you'll need a longer exposure and the tripod later.
   
3. 

   A few sheets of paper will give you a nice plain white background.
   Put a few sheets of plain white paper on a table (you'll need a few sheets with ordinary copy paper because a single sheet will not be entirely opaque), and put the product on it. Find a solid object to prop up the paper behind your subject; in the example photos, you can see a handy patio umbrella post sitting there.
   
4. Put your camera on a tripod. This will permit you to use the smaller apertures (and consequent long shutter speeds) needed for product photography. If you don't have a tripod, stack up some random objects you have kicking around until you're at a good working height.
   
5. 

   Keep moving your camera and subject around until you're at the right angle and distance.
   Move around. Get your camera at the right angle to the product: a roughly corner-on isometric view.^[2] or edge-on oblique view^[3] gives a three-dimensional appearance generally more appealing than a face-on orthographic view^[4] Get your camera at the right distance from the product, too: generally 'far enough' (and zoomed in) because a flat undistorted perspective is generally more useful than a perhaps-artistically distorted close-up one.^[5] Products, like anything else, will look weird if you try to take photographs from too close to your subject.^[1] If possible, try to get at least half a meter away.
   
   You might find that your zoom lens will only focus to closer distances at shorter focal lengths; make your own experiments here, because this may dictate your working distance.
   
6. Get your camera's settings right.
   
   • Make sure your flash is turned off. Subjects lit by direct, on-camera flash look eBay-tastic,^[6] with harsh untamed highlights in many places and harsh shadows in others.
     
   • Set your white balance. If you have a 'shade' or 'cloudy' setting, you want to use this. The sky, which lights the shade, is bluish-white. Otherwise, use the 'sun' setting. If you're a raw-shooting headbanger you don't have to bother with this, although it'll give your favourite raw conversion software a starting point.
     
   • Set your ISO as low as you can. For product photographs shot from a tripod you don't need the faster shutter speeds that higher ISOs permit, and lower ISOs means less noise (meaning smoother original pictures) and that less or no noise reduction needs to be applied (meaning sharper smooth pictures).
     
   • Set your camera to aperture priority mode. All digital SLRs and some compact cameras have it. If you're using a compact camera without an aperture-priority mode, you might want to try the 'macro' mode.
     
   
   
7. 

   The top photo was shot at f/4, the bottom one at f/11; note how much more obviously the shutter button is defocused in the former.
   Set an aperture, if you're using aperture priority mode. Product photography often requires small apertures (larger f/ numbers) for a lot of depth of field, but at some point the image (including the parts of it outside of the plane of perfect focus) will be softer because of diffraction effects.
   
   Your optimal aperture will depend on many factors (including your lens, your focal length, your working distance and even your sensor size), so experiment. Start at f/11 on a digital SLR or the smallest aperture on a compact camera, and try the neighbouring few apertures, and zoom in on your LCD when you play the images back. Use the aperture which seems the sharpest all over. If you have to choose between not having enough depth of field and having a slightly softer image due to diffraction, then choose the latter; diffraction is modest all over and relatively easy to correct in software to some degree, whereas defocus gets more severe as one moves away from the plane of focus and is a complex phenomenon that is close-to-impossible to correct.
   
8. 

   The bottom photo was deliberately overexposed (with exposure compensation) to bring the white background closer to white.
   Get the exposure right. The white piece of paper will often confuse a camera's meter; the camera will see it as a bright thing that needs to be exposed to grey, rather than left white. Use your exposure compensation; a whole stop of over-exposure is a good place to start. Ideally, you want to keep the paper bright, but not overexpose it all the way to 255 white.
   
9. Turn on the self-timer once you've got the exposure right. For the kind of exposure times you'll be using, and the act of pushing the shutter button can cause noticeable camera shake (especially on cheaper tripods). Turning on the self-timer will give that motion a little time to damp. If you have a selectable self-timer length, try setting it to 2 or 5 seconds.
   
10. Take your shot and check your LCD again. If you're happy with the results, then go on to post-processing.
    
11. 

    The result straight from the camera. Looking promising, but needs some post-processing work.
    Install GIMP. The GNU Image Manipulation Program is a piece of open source software that can be downloaded for free. It's not as sophisticated as Photoshop in every way, but it's free, and plenty good for simple post-processing jobs like you're going to do here.
    
12. Start GIMP and open your image (File ->> Open).
    
13. Bring the background back to white with the levels tool.
    
    • 

      GIMP's levels dialog.
      Go to Colors -> Levels, which will bring up the levels dialog. Click on the 'white point' eye-dropper (the rightmost of the three near the bottom right of the dialog).
      
    • 

      Click on the 'White point' eye dropper, then click on the darkest part of the background that should be white.
      Click on the darkest part of the background which should be white, but isn't. Then hit 'OK'.
      
    • 

      Doing this will make the white background white, as it should be.
      This will make your background pure white (at the cost of bringing out a little noise).
      
    
    
14. 

    Cropped, to remove as much of the background while leaving a little empty space around the subject.
    Crop your photograph. You probably have a lot of unnecessary empty areas in your photo (and probably some of the background behind the white paper, too). Bring up GIMP's crop tool (Tools -> Transform Tools -> Crop, or press Shift+C), and click-and-drag a selection around the area to which you want to crop. Hit the Enter key when you're done to crop the photograph.
    
15. Remove any marks and dust. This means dust and marks on your subject, and possibly marks on your white paper background as well. But clean your monitor first; anyone who's spent any time in a photo editor knows well the frustration of wondering why their clone tool isn't working, and it turning out to be dust on their screen!
    
    • 

      Look for marks on the white background; these are easy to paint over.
      Marks on the white background are obviously easy to correct; use the paintbrush or pencil tool with the foreground colour set to white.
      
    • Use the Clone tool (press C) or Heal tool (press H) to paint out dust on your subject. The Heal tool usually works better; experiment with this. With the tool active, select an area of similar or identical colour and texture, hold down Ctrl, and click somewhere in that area. Then click (and drag, if necessary) on the specks of dust.
      
    
    
16. Fix any remaining colour problems. You might find that there's a yellow or blue cast to grey objects (especially after the earlier step to bring the background back to white; this has the effect of shifting the colour balance of the whole photograph away from the colour of the area you clicked on). There are two ways of fixing this:
    
    • 

      Fixing an iffy colour balance with the Hue-Saturation tool.
      The Hue-Saturation tool can often be used to very good effect. Go to Colors -> Hue-Saturation, and click the selector next to the colour (R, Y, M, B, etc) to which the photo is shifted, then turn down the 'Saturation' slider until it looks right (it can look weird if you turn the saturation down too far; playing with the 'Overlap' slider might help here). Hit 'OK'.
      
    • If that doesn't work, you might want to try the colour balance (Colors -> Color Balance) and play with the sliders until it looks right.
      
    
    
17. 

    The end result, after a bit of sharpening.
    Do any other post-processing you like. For example, if you've shot at a very small aperture, your photo will almost certainly benefit from a little sharpening to make up for the softening caused by diffraction (Filters -> Enhance -> Unsharp Mask, use a radius of about 1 and 'Amount' set to somewhere between 0.5 and 1).
    

Video

Tips

• If you're selling a high-value used item online, make a pretty picture to catch the buyer's attention with how good it will look in normal conditions, and make another with harsh point-source direct or raked lighting to fully disclose any damage.
  
• If the product has any problems with glass, these problems are best shown with straight-on or oblique backlighting.
  

Warnings

• Outside is hard and scratchy. Take care not to drop your camera or subject product.
  
• Many modern products include plastics that may be damaged by harsh cleaners or rubbing alcohol. Take care when cleaning to use the least harsh cleaner necessary to get the product clean. Often, a water dampened cloth can get most products clean enough to photograph, especially consumer electronics.
  

Things You'll Need

• 

  Any digital camera is fine; this ancient, beaten-up 4 megapixel SLR< took the photographs for this article.
  A digital camera. Almost any camera will be good enough, especially if you're only doing low-resolution photographs for the web
  
• Cleaning supplies such as a cotton terry towel and rubbing alcohol (caution: flammable)
  
• A few sheets of plain white paper
  
• A tripod, ideally
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Create an Inexpensive Photography Lightbox
  
• How to Create a Lightbox Using a Cooler
  
• How to Take Catalog Photographs
  
• How to Create a Ghetto DIY Studio
  
• How to Make a Mini Photo Studio with LED Lighting
  
• How to Photograph Small Things
  

Sources and Citations

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