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Peeper Window Fresnel Lens
Lens-Tech has developed a solution 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 begun 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 in March.
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 windscreen pillar, considerably improving their ability to spot anyone or anything close to the front left-hand corner of the truck.
It’s very difficult to alleviate the blind spot created by the pillar, and a pedestrian or cyclist hidden behind it is extraordinarily vulnerable.
With the force majeure of FORS and the DVS requirements of getting the maximum amount of vision you can from the driver’s seat, there’s a strong push towards getting peeper windows into the doors. Lens-Tech are 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 cab pillar, but if you attach the Hi Vue A5-size lens to the glass in the right place, a truck driver gets to see around it.
Lens-Tech’s Hi-Vue Fresnel lenses are made from PVC or acrylic, easily stick to glass using peel-back self-adhesive and, at 21x 12cm, they take up a nominal amount of window space. The company’s lenses are already applied to peeper windows of most new Daimler Trucks and Kenworth models produced in the US.
In the UK, now that manufacturers are fitting peeper windows to trucks coming off the line, there is an opportunity for transport managers to consider enhancing that view even further.
Hi Vue DVS Peeper window lenses represent a low-cost solution for operators looking to make their vehicles safer. Prices start at £9.99 each excluding VAT for individual PVC lenses. Orders can be made directly or through most UK truck component resellers.
