Blind Spot Questions

[rob13]

Hello All,

I wanted to get an idea for everyone’s thoughts on Blind Spot Detection either coming standard on all RV mirrors straight from the RV manufacturer, or as an option to upgrade mirrors currently on your RV.

Note: When referring to BSD, I mean having an icon in your mirror that flashes if someone is in your blind spot when making a lane change.

Questions are as follows (please reply to any or all):

1.    Do you think BSD will benefit RV drivers, increasing their awareness and safety?
2.    Do you consider it a useful technology?
3.    Do you think BSD should come standard on all RV’s out of the factory?
4.    Would you prefer to purchase an RV with BSD or the same model RV with no BSD option?
5.    Everything else being somewhat comparable, would you prefer to purchase one RV model with BSD over the other RV model with no BSD?
6.    Would you prefer a visual blind spot icon flash only, or a subtle audio cue as well?
7.    Does your RV currently have BSD?
8.    Would you replace your current RV mirror with one that offered BSD built in?

[LindaH]

34 minutes ago, rob13 said:

1.    Do you think BSD will benefit RV drivers, increasing their awareness and safety?  I suppose it could.
2.    Do you consider it a useful technology?  Maybe.  I've never heard of it, so would have to see it in action
3.    Do you think BSD should come standard on all RV’s out of the factory? "All" RVs?  No, since many RVs are travel trailers, fifth wheels, and others where this technology would be of no use.  Should motorhomes comes standard with this? Again, since I know little about this technology, I'd have to learn a lot more about it.
4.    Would you prefer to purchase an RV with BSD or the same model RV with no BSD option? It probably wouldn't be a consideration either way.
5.    Everything else being somewhat comparable, would you prefer to purchase one RV model with BSD over the other RV model with no BSD?  See my answer to #4
6.    Would you prefer a visual blind spot icon flash only, or a subtle audio cue as well? I probably wouldn't hear a subtle audio cue, so a spot icon flash would be of more use to me.
7.    Does your RV currently have BSD? No.
8.    Would you replace your current RV mirror with one that offered BSD built in? Probably not.

 

[rob13]

Thanks LindaH, I appreciate the responses!

[SWharton]

I have no experience with this technology either and I doubt they would ever put it on trucks(which is the chassis basis for gas MH). I rarely get out of the right lane so don't see much use for this. Probably would increase the cost of a MH quite a bit and I would rather use the money on something else(like solar). I have never had even a close call with someone in my blind spot. I am careful and look around before changing lanes.  Been Rving for 40+ years.....

[GlennWest]

Prefer my cameras.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

25 minutes ago, SWharton said:

I have no experience with this technology either and I doubt they would ever put it on trucks(which is the chassis basis for gas MH). I rarely get out of the right lane so don't see much use for this. Probably would increase the cost of a MH quite a bit and I would rather use the money on something else(like solar). I have never had even a close call with someone in my blind spot. I am careful and look around before changing lanes.  Been Rving for 40+ years.....

Actually the first lane warning system was from Eaton Industries for the trucking industry.  My 2000 Volvo tractor had the system.  With the tech turn in automotive safety devices, this is inevitable and will have more popularity than solar.  More people drive than boondock.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

If you have decent mirrors, you already have blind spot detection, they are called eyeballs. Use them and look for something in the lane you are moving into.

[Mr. Camper]

We rarely travel on the interstates and when we have to it's just for a couple of miles and I never do much more than merge in, stay in the right lane, and exit.  Never had a problem driving on Blue Highways with someone in my blind spot.  My truck already has a split mirror and I glance at both when I check on my left and right sides for anything.

[I'mdonewiththis forum]

2 hours ago, GeorgiaHybrid said:

If you have decent mirrors, you already have blind spot detection, they are called eyeballs. Use them and look for something in the lane you are moving into.

Exactly. I prefer to look and with a decent set of convex mirrors there shouldn't be any blind spot next to you.

[Pat & Pete]

3 hours ago, rob13 said:

Hello All,

I wanted to get an idea for everyone’s thoughts on Blind Spot Detection either coming standard on all RV mirrors straight from the RV manufacturer, or as an option to upgrade mirrors currently on your RV.

Note: When referring to BSD, I mean having an icon in your mirror that flashes if someone is in your blind spot when making a lane change.

Questions are as follows (please reply to any or all):

1.    Do you think BSD will benefit RV drivers, increasing their awareness and safety? I can only hope it would .
2.    Do you consider it a useful technology? I'm sure it has a use .
3.    Do you think BSD should come standard on all RV’s out of the factory? No .
4.    Would you prefer to purchase an RV with BSD or the same model RV with no BSD option? 
5.    Everything else being somewhat comparable, would you prefer to purchase one RV model with BSD over the other RV model with no BSD? If the model I want has it , OK . If not, even better .
6.    Would you prefer a visual blind spot icon flash only, or a subtle audio cue as well? BOTH . Only forget anything subtle . The situation calls for DEFINITION .
7.    Does your RV currently have BSD? Yes . In the form of both flat and convex mirrors , along with a rear camera . 
8.    Would you replace your current RV mirror with one that offered BSD built in? They'd have to offer a lot more than BSD to warrant the switch . 

 

[Kirk W]

Welcome to the Escapee forums. 

4 hours ago, rob13 said:

3.    Do you think BSD should come standard on all RV’s out of the factory?

I really do not see how that could be done at this time for all RV's since we don't even know what the towable ones will be towed with. Most motorized RV's already have or at least offer rear cameras as an option and many are adding them to towable RVs. It may well happen some day and perhaps will show up soon on the motorized RVs but I don't expect to see it as required for all RV's at any time soon.

Now if you don't mind, I have a question for you. Why do you ask this, are you somehow involved in the technology or some related product? 

[sandsys]

37 minutes ago, Kirk Wood said:

Now if you don't mind, I have a question for you. Why do you ask this, are you somehow involved in the technology or some related product? 

This was my question, too. It felt to me like someone doing a product marketing survey. Which is against Escapee's forum policy. So, I'm not ready yet to welcome this new poster. I hope I'm wrong, though.

Linda Sand

[rob13]

Thank you all for your feedback.  No I am not part of a company, I am a college student attempting to get the relative temperature of actual RV owners and their feelings towards BSD technology, for an automotive technology course.  I was hoping that this could start a lively debate amongst those who believe they don't need the technology, and those who feel that they (or others) do.

[ms60ocb]

8 hours ago, rob13 said:

2.    Do you consider it a useful technology?

Yes, would I like a camera yes , are mirrors better YES.

My wife's car has a BSD system which is a definite need by the inherent car design, seat head rests and small mirror.. My truck has Ample Mirrors but I would more lights to show  the edge (curb) of the Road after dark when turning, That would on both the Truck and RV. 

A BSD system does work good for backing the car. I would scare me on my truck if I didn't good mirrors. But audio and visual would the best.

Clay with 40 foot Fifth Wheel

[Tex Bigfoot]

I weigh in on this one .

While in most cases I feel that having more tools in the tool box to choose from is a good thing I get the feeling that this could end up in the long run making worse drivers of some of us.

Case in point the trucking industry a few years ago could not find qualified drivers for a standard shift transmission lo and behold the truck builders started putting autos in the trucks now we have more steering wheel holders than real truck drivers.

My grandsons have a really hard time reading a paper map because they grew up with GPS.

When one relies on technology and then it is not available a lot of people don't know how to respond. 

these are  most likely not  the best examples but I think you get the point. 

[Kirk W]

4 hours ago, rob13 said:

 I was hoping that this could start a lively debate amongst those who believe they don't need the technology, and those who feel that they (or others) do.

I don't think that need is the right term for most of us, especially the experienced RV travelers, but that does not mean that I don't see a benefit to it. More information and better warnings are a good thing. My car has the sensors on the rear to warn of things behind me while my truck does not. I like having it on the car but would not say that I need it. You are not likely to get much debate from the groups you seek as I doubt that they exist in any significant number. 

You still have not, however, addressed the way that you would supply such technology to those of us who tow a travel trailer or fifth wheel. If you advocate requiring it on all RV's then you will need to address this since trailers come is a very wider range of lengths and configurations and tow vehicles are just as diverse. As I stated before, I see it as reasonable for the motorhome owner but not for those of us who tow our RV. 

[rob13]

11 hours ago, Kirk Wood said:

I don't think that need is the right term for most of us, especially the experienced RV travelers, but that does not mean that I don't see a benefit to it. More information and better warnings are a good thing. My car has the sensors on the rear to warn of things behind me while my truck does not. I like having it on the car but would not say that I need it. You are not likely to get much debate from the groups you seek as I doubt that they exist in any significant number. 

You still have not, however, addressed the way that you would supply such technology to those of us who tow a travel trailer or fifth wheel. If you advocate requiring it on all RV's then you will need to address this since trailers come is a very wider range of lengths and configurations and tow vehicles are just as diverse. As I stated before, I see it as reasonable for the motorhome owner but not for those of us who tow our RV. 

Kirk,

That seems like something truck manufacturers and fifth wheel manufacturers need to collaborate on.  You would have to outfit the truck that's towing the fifth wheel similar in technological capabilities as the cab of a motorhome.  Cameras would have to be placed on a fifth wheel itself (likely a back up camera, blindspot cameras, and potentially hitch cameras) to work in conjunction with an in cab monitor that receives the video feed.  The extra long arm mirrors on a truck still provide a decent view alongside the fifth wheel, but as we are debating with motorhomes, does this mirror also get a blindspot icon, that could be triggered by cameras or sensors on the fifth wheel itself?

[remoandiris]

14 hours ago, Tex Bigfoot said:

While in most cases I feel that having more tools in the tool box to choose from is a good thing I get the feeling that this could end up in the long run making worse drivers of some of us.

 

Agreed.  Nowadays it seems people no longer look over their shoulders to check their blind spots before they change lanes.  Heck, there are already great tools called turn signals that go unused a lot of the time.   

With so many drivers who have a cup in one hand, a sandwich in another hand, a brush in another hand, all the while looking down at a phone in another hand, it is no wonder future hopes are stuck on technology instead of individual responsibility.

[I'mdonewiththis forum]

The way I see it, is that all this technology is good- to an extent! The problem is that drivers are relying on their blind spot monitor, their lane departure warning, their auto braking, their back-up cameras, etc. as excuses for paying less and less attention to the task of driving.

[Pat & Pete]

11 minutes ago, Mntom said:

The way I see it, is that all this technology is good- to an extent! The problem is that drivers are relying on their blind spot monitor, their lane departure warning, their auto braking, their back-up cameras, etc. as excuses for paying less and less attention to the task of driving.

Exactly that^ .

[Yarome]

On 8/16/2017 at 7:57 AM, GeorgiaHybrid said:

If you have decent mirrors, you already have blind spot detection, they are called eyeballs. Use them and look for something in the lane you are moving into.

 

28 minutes ago, Mntom said:

The way I see it, is that all this technology is good- to an extent! The problem is that drivers are relying on their blind spot monitor, their lane departure warning, their auto braking, their back-up cameras, etc. as excuses for paying less and less attention to the task of driving.

That about sums it up for me as well.

[Kirk W]

3 hours ago, rob13 said:

You would have to outfit the truck that's towing the fifth wheel similar in technological capabilities as the cab of a motorhome.  Cameras would have to be placed on a fifth wheel itself (likely a back up camera, blindspot cameras, and potentially hitch cameras) to work in conjunction with an in cab monitor that receives the video feed.

Exactly! The technology is available but is it practical for this application? You first have to get dozens of different companies that build RVs to agree to work with all of the different truck manufacturers and once that is done you will then need some sort of data standards for the two to be able to communicate. Your original question was about "all RV's." As I read this you seem to think of RV as those which are self-propelled but all RV's would include travel trailers, fifth wheel trailers, pickup campers, pop-up trailers, and even the small RV trailers designed to tow behind a motorcycle. If you require it if all RV's then you need to realize that it doesn't just impact one specific type. 

The cameras to view the trailer hitch are already available on most SUV's and pick-up type trucks, so some of that technology is presently in use. But apply that to every RV is just not practical at this time. It would be nice to have and one day we will probably see at least some of it but for the lower priced RV's the cost would be excessive and would not sell. 

[remoandiris]

3 hours ago, Kirk Wood said:

. But apply that to every RV is just not practical at this time. It would be nice to have and one day we will probably see at least some of it but for the lower priced RV's the cost would be excessive and would not sell. 

I hope no politicians are reading this.  Next thing ya know, there's gonna be a law!!

[SWharton]

Mark and Dale,

We don;t get solar for boondocking, we get solar to keep our battery charged when in storage. We have always done this since we have never had electricity at any of our storage locations. We don;t have enough solar to seriously boondock.

 

 

[Jimalberta]

Tex I have to disagree with your statement about the reason for auto trannys in trucks. My brother is a truck driver and has driven semis for Purolator for his whole working career. He now has a bad left hip which is very common in this industry. He is having that hip replaced in October. He told me just today that if he hadnt switched to an automatic truck he would have had to retire or quit trucking years ago. I'm sure that switch did not make him simply a steering wheel holder.