From 1975 to 1979, 173 persons in The Netherlands died, because they were hit by a car turing right, which is 1,5% of the total number of fatalities. Cyclists and moped riders mainly were the victims. 87% of the accidents were caused by trucks. Though the rear view mirrors are fixed according to EEC directives they leave large areas invisible for the drivers of the trucks. Some seem to have additional mirrors, but there are no national data on this. When trucks turn right or left they need a wider lane. Trucks without a rear view (80%) mostly have only one person in the cabin, the driver. All these factors leave a wide area not visible for the drivers of trucks when turning right. To improve the dangerous situation several proposals are made regarding vehicles and traffic directives, in addition to the fixing of a better rear view mirror.
Abstract