Mirror guards law. (1 Viewer)

May 29, 2013
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Might be an idea if you have mirror guards to check how far they stick out from the vehicle;


A coroner has criticised a car breakdown firm after a schoolgirl was killed when she was clipped by an oversized wing-mirror guard on a 7.5-tonne lorry.

Holly Chevassut, 14, was struck by the Izuzu flatbed lorry while she walked along a dark unlit country road.

Her family has paid tribute to their "beautiful" daughter, saying she was "talented, creative, funny and beautiful".

She suffered a “traumatic spinal cord injury” after the crash on Plough Lane in Harbury, Warwickshire on 31 October 2018.

Holly was rushed to hospital but died two days later.

An inquest into her death found she was hit by a plastic guard encasing the truck’s wing mirror.

On the day of the incident, Holly was walking down a narrow road with no footpaths at around 5.30pm.

It was dark and as the truck, owned by GRS Recovery, drove past her, Holly was clipped by the mirror protector.

By law, wing mirrors must stick out less than 20cms from the widest part of the vehicle but the inquest heard the guards on GRS vans exceeded that.

Schoolgirl Holly Chevassut, 14, was struck by the Izuzu flatbed lorry while she walked along a dark unlit country road (swns)

By law, wing mirrors must stick out less than 20cms from the widest part of the vehicle but the inquest heard the guards on GRS vans exceeded that.

Assistant coroner for Warwickshire Tom Leeper has written to the truck firm ordering an investigation into the mirror guards.

In his coroner’s report he said: “During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern.

“In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken.

“GRS continues to operate vehicles with mirrors and guards the height of which are under two metres from the road surface and which project more than 20cms from the widest part of those vehicles.

“Such a configuration creates a risk of personal injury and death to people overtaken by these vehicles.”

GRS Recovery confirmed they had now altered the mirrors and guards on their vans to comply with the regulations.

After the hearing, Holly’s family paid tribute to their “beautiful daughter”.
 
Aug 18, 2011
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20 cms ? Must be hundreds if not thousands of vehicles on the road that break that law,,Very tragic though...Similar thing happened to James Cracknall whilst cycling in America,,,BUSBY.

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SandraL

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(b)each exterior mirror on a vehicle fitted with windows and a windscreen shall be visible to the driver, when in his driving position, through a side window or through the portion of the windscreen which is swept by the windscreen wiper;

(c)where the bottom edge of an exterior mirror is less than 2 m above the road surface when the vehicle is laden, that mirror shall not project more than 20 cm beyond the overall width of the vehicle or, in a case where the vehicle is drawing a trailer which has an overall width greater than that of the drawing vehicle, more than 20 cm beyond the overall width of the trailer;

Excerpt from regs, note the under 2metre bit.
 

Badknee

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As an ex trucker I always adjusted my mirrors to be as close to the cab as possible. If it was a “plastic cover” it probably wasn’t an extra added like I have seen recently. As we know the newer mirrors are very expensive when they contain two mirrors, motors and heaters and truckers are putting metal shields to protect them. Very sad story though 😢
 
Nov 13, 2011
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The mirrors on my previous Swift motorhome contravened this regulation, so I wrote to Swift to resolve the issue. Their reply was "the vehicle is type approved" and that was all, they were not interested in rules and regs, they simply hid behind the type approval.
I took it upon myself to shorten the mirror arms, which made them more practical and legal.
Geoff

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WESTY66

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All the gear, and no idea!
Mmmm just checked mine on Adria Sonic A Class LHD. They measure 23cm passenger side and 24cm drivers side. Standard mirrors with NO guards on🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️
 

WESTY66

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All the gear, and no idea!
From the widest point of the vehicle?
Yes it’s an A Class with straight sides and the mirrors stick out 23,24cm from side of bodywork.
Edit. Thanks M-J for making me have a second (proper) look and it appears my wheel arch mouldings stick out 4cm from the side of the van, so I guess I’m all legal after all😊😊.

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M-J

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Yes it’s an A Class with straight sides and the mirrors stick out 23,24cm from side of bodywork.
Edit. Thanks M-J for making me have a second (proper) look and it appears my wheel arch mouldings stick out 4cm from the side of the van, so I guess I’m all legal after all😊😊.

I was going to suggest wheel arches would be widest on an a-class. (Probably on most MHs, either that or the front clam shell above the cab on some)
 
Jul 29, 2007
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Mine are over 300mm as fitted by Winnebago and 1700 to the base of the mirror from the ground.
 

dipsie

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I fitted standard PVC van ones on our the two Swift Bolero’s, I could still see as far behind as I thought reasonable and they both passed MOT’s with no mentions of the mirrors, and bear in mind that one can leave the Rev camera on when driving if you are worried about what is immediately behind.
We have some lazy farmers here in the West Country who tend not to cut their hedges back tight enough. Even Mirror Guards are not sometimes protection enough.

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Mar 14, 2019
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Mmmm just checked mine on Adria Sonic A Class LHD. They measure 23cm passenger side and 24cm drivers side. Standard mirrors with NO guards on🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️
If you have a coach built which is 2.3m wide the Ducato mirrors do not exceed 2.7m overall as the cab portion is well under 2.3m in width. This is one thing I checked on my coachbult. I believe the cab portion is just 2.05m having just look dit up. If you line up the rear wider part side wall, note how much of the mirror you can see and measure it. I will be surprised if you have 20cms visible (7.87inches)

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Minxy

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I was going to suggest wheel arches would be widest on an a-class. (Probably on most MHs, either that or the front clam shell above the cab on some)
Wheel arches or side marker lights.
 
Feb 10, 2013
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What vehicles are subject to this law? possibly 3.5 ton and above.
 

Emmit

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I know what follows is playing with semantics but;
What is a mirror?
In the case of this piece of legislation, are we saying the actual edge of the mirror surface or are we including the frame in which the 'Mirror' sits.

having read some of the above, it would seem that certain manufacturers are relying on the actual edge of the mirror rather than the fitment.

I've just been out to the 'van, (A Burstner A Class.) The edge of the mirror on the offside is 8 1/8" (20.7cms)from the side window but the frame takes it to 9" (22.8cms) However, on the o/s the Awning frame must be sticking out at least 10.0cms and there is the wheel arches at the rear on both sides.

I reckon I'm legal.

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Lenny HB

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Mirror guards fitted to Motorhomes only add a few mm to the width the problem is with trucks where they fit big stainless steel ones that are way wider than the mirror.
Appears to be a brit thing you hardly ever see them on foreign lorries.
 
Aug 18, 2014
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What vehicles are subject to this law? possibly 3.5 ton and above.
Everything
ve just been out to the 'van, (A Burstner A Class.) The edge of the mirror on the offside is 8 1/8" (20.7cms)from the side window but the frame takes it to 9" (22.8cms) However, on the o/s the Awning frame must be sticking out at least 10.0cms and there is the wheel arches at the rear on both sides.
Awning doesn't count only the homolgated vehicle.
If you fold the mirrors In flat to the vehicle they should not protrude farther than widest part of the body.if they do they are Illegal.
 

Ivory55

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Mirror guards fitted to Motorhomes only add a few mm to the width the problem is with trucks where they fit big stainless steel ones that are way wider than the mirror.
Appears to be a brit thing you hardly ever see them on foreign lorries.
The cost of replacement of Volvo mirrors is huge. I think it started with just nearside mirrors on tipper etc delivering in rural areas with overgrown hedges.
 
Aug 18, 2014
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Mirror guards fitted to Motorhomes only add a few mm to the width the problem is with trucks where they fit big stainless steel ones that are way wider than the mirror.
Appears to be a brit thing you hardly ever see them on foreign lorries.
Yes and totally illegal.

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Last edited:

Emmit

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Everything

Awning doesn't count only the homolgated vehicle.
If you fold the mirrors In flat to the vehicle they should not protrude farther than widest part of the body.if they do they are Illegal.
The mirrors don't fold.
 

funflair

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Does the '2m above the ground' rule explain why coaches and now many bigger MHs have the mirrors mounted on brackets higher up on the window pillars?

Geoff
Actually I think that the sideways projection is less or certainly no more with this type of coach mirror than with standard van type mirrors, line of sight down the length of our van tells me that the mirrors are actually only about 2/3 outside the body line which of course is only possible if they stick out the front.

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68c

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Awning doesn't count only the homolgated vehicle.
If you fold the mirrors In flat to the vehicle they should not protrude farther than widest part of the body.if they do they are Illegal.
Are you sure that's true? Why would there be a requirement for how far a folded mirror sticks out.🤔
 
Feb 10, 2013
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Everything

Awning doesn't count only the homolgated vehicle.
If you fold the mirrors In flat to the vehicle they should not protrude farther than widest part of the body.if they do they are Illegal.
Surely not cars or vw campers they would need mirrors on their roofs to be over 2metres
 
Jul 12, 2013
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If insurance gets involved, their question regarding modifications could come into effect. So should anyone with a mirror protector inform them of the 'modification'?

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