Avoid danger, see road signs ahead of time, SEE THROUGH THE TRUCK AHEAD OF YOU BLOCKING YOUR VIEW, with a “FORWARD-VIEW TRUCK PERISCOPE.”
Professional drivers will tell you it is safest to always look down the road as far ahead as you possibly can, rather than to just near-sightedly follow the vehicle ahead of you.
WHY SHOULD YOU LOOK AS FAR AHEAD AS POSSIBLE?
1. TO AVOID DANGER, PROBLEMS AHEAD
You want to see traffic jams, accidents, deer, children, detours, lane changes, construction, etc., way ahead of time, so as to make decisions about what to do, and put them to action in plenty of time.
2. TO SEE ROAD SIGNS AHEAD OF TIME
You want to see a road sign—say, the exit you want—early enough to decide and act, even when a truck is in front of you hiding it. driver of the car behind them
Usually, you can see through or beyond low-slung cars.
But you can’t see through or beyond trucks, SUVs, or mini-vans.
So I invented the “FORWARD-VIEW TRUCK PERISCOPE.”
PURPOSE
Periscopes are used to let you see around and beyond things that are in the way.
Simply put, the “Forward-View Truck Periscope” enables the car behind to see around and beyond the truck, or SUV, or mini-van. in front (See attached drawing.)
MOUNTING
The periscope can be mounted:
1. on the top of a truck at the very back (Placement Option #1 on the attached drawing) or
2. on the side, like a side-view mirror (Placement Option #2).
TILT-BACK OPTION
Truckers might object that these periscopes might prevent them from squeezing through Low Clearance bridges, or tight alleyways. To fix this problem, the periscopes can be made to tilt back flat against the vehicle. They can be made to be tilted back either by adjusting them manually, or with an electronic switch.
VIDEO DISPLAY
A video display mounted on the back of the vehicle, connected to a camera in the front of the vehicle, would work just as well as a periscope for giving an unobstructed view far down the road ahead.
But there are 2 drawbacks to a video display:
COST
1. A video display costs more than an actual physical periscope.
VIDEO CRASHING
2. Complex electronic devices often crash, for a variety of reasons. The only way a periscope crashes is if it is crashed into.
“ANTI-SUV PERISCOPE”
A lot of ideas are floating about for video periscopes. Like this one that just has a video camera on the end of a long selfie-stick to look over the SUV in front of you.
Halfbakery: Anti-SUV Periscope
This might work. Except it would only work for SUVs. Trucks are too high. The selfie-stick would have to be ten feet high. And it’s still an electronic device prone to crashing.
THE PUBLIC’S MOTIVATION FOR WANTING FORWARD-VIEW TRUCK PERISCOPES
An unobstructed view of the road ahead is self-evidently something that every conscientious driver craves and would be grateful for.
And the general public knows that tailgating is dangerous. They would welcome something on their own car—anything, in fact—that might help the driver following them avoid crashing into them.
TRUCKERS’, TRUCKING COMPANIES’, VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS’, and VEHICLE OWNERS’ MOTIVATION FOR WANTING FORWARD-VIEW TRUCK PERISCOPES
1. SAFETY FIRST: NO TAILGATING
The periscope can be aligned so that you can only view it properly if you maintain a safe distance behind the vehicle you are following.
Nobody likes tailgating, and it is dangerous. Preventing tailgating increases highway safety, for both the vehicle in front and the vehicle following. More highway safety means less accidents.
2. PUBLIC RELATIONS
The public will be thankful and appreciative of this improvement in their ability to get where they are going and keep themselves safe. The Forward-View Periscope will give the companies that adopt it a high profile, an improved reputation, and increased name recognition.