# Video screens on back of tractor trailers a great idea! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 23, 2015, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252 "2015-06-23T16:03:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/21 "2015-06-23T19:52:55Z")
The Trans-Canada where I live is mostly two-lane without shoulders, and is hilly and bendy. Seeing past trucks is no problem if you are sufficiently far enough behind them when you stick your nose out for a peek. Sticking your nose out when close behind a truck is dangerous. Using TVs to make it easier for people to follow closely and still pass seems like a dumb idea to me. Better if they keep a safe distance in the first place and pass from there. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/22 "2015-06-23T19:57:04Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > I don’t know that I’ve ever passed a rig on a two lane road. Highways and interstates, of course, but it’s rare to even see a rig anywhere where this would come in handy, at least around here. The video linked to in the OP mentioned Argentina, though I’m not sure if that meant that was where it was filmed. I know it wasn’t around here, since the roads pictured have a center white line separating the two directions of traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/23 "2015-06-24T00:07:00Z")
I drive a long rural two-lane road twice a day five days a week. I’d love to see this, assuming any issues are worked out and think it’d be great. As is, the only time I feel comfortable passing (there’s often trucks going 5-10 under the limit) is during a the downhill portion of a bowl-shaped slope where the angle allows me to see ahead in front of the truck and be sure it’s clear. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/24 "2015-06-24T01:05:58Z")
I can’t see them being used in the winter (at least the sort of winter we have around here), for the trailer rear doors get caked with snow and road crap. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/25 "2015-06-24T02:44:37Z")
The video is referring to Argentina–I have never been to Argentina, but I have driven hundreds of miles in Brazil and can safely say that I would love to see this feature on some roads there. It is very common to encounter twisty two-lane roads that go through rugged terrain, with few alternative routes, and they are choked with a dangerous mix of terribly slow trucks poking along at 25-30mph and cars speeding along at 80mph. So, if you don’t want to drive 25mph to your destination hundreds of miles away, you are forced to pass on curves and other scary places. A trip from Rio to Campos is a very tedious and dangerous game of leap frog on BR101 with those dog-slow trucks. This back-door TV monitor would certainly help. Then again, the trucks that slow are [definitely nothing like](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/minor7flat5/brazilian-truck.jpg) the Samsung trucks. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/26 "2015-06-24T08:54:04Z")
So, who is supposed to pay for this, exactly? Screens that big that are worth having and are viewable in daylight are damned expensive. We had one fitted to a truck of ours at work, it cost around £25,000. Haulage companies tend to run on a tight budget already, they’re unlikely to want to shell out that kind of money for something that doesn’t benefit them. The other issue is liability: Say someone comes up behind one of these trucks, sees the road ahead is clear except for a car off in the distance. They pull out to overtake, only to find that the car is closer than it looked. A collision occurs. Could the truck owners be held liable for displaying misleading information? Again, I can’t see haulage operators wanting to take that kind of risk for no benefit to themselves. All in all, not a bad idea, but not one we’re ever likely to see unless it’s government mandated (and paid for). ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/27 "2015-06-24T10:43:43Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > That’s unlikely. TV’s aren’t that good, and the screen’s aren’t that big. > > It is a good idea. I have a personal theory that large vehicles blocking people’s view increases stress and road rage while driving, and this includes the fat-arsed SUVs with the tinted windows. It used to be that you could generally seentraffic several cars ahead, if only through the windows of the car in front of you, so you could see and react to changes in traffic flow. Now, because your line of sight is blocked, you have much less time to react AND, because you’re human, you tend to blame any slowdowns on the idiot directly in front of you, because that’s all you can see. > > So I actually would be fine with requiring any car or vehicle that restricts line of sight beyond a certain amount to have this technology. Maybe manufacturers would stop designing vehicles that look “cool” at the cost of restricting visibility. I agree with this as see this as drivers helping other drivers for the betterment of all mankind which makes the world a better place. It is worth a try to see if I’m right 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/28 "2015-06-24T10:46:32Z")
> [@The\_Angry\_Badger](#): > > So, who is supposed to pay for this, exactly? > > Screens that big that are worth having and are viewable in daylight are damned expensive. From another page I viewed yesterday it appeared like a projection, not a active screen. That should make it cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/29 "2015-06-24T15:22:53Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Accept responsibility??? Shirley you jest !!! :dubious: I didn’t say anything about accepting it. Car drivers don’t have to accept responsibility, they are assigned it, at least until the trucking companies put up screens telling the cars that it’s safe to pass. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/30 "2015-06-24T16:20:22Z")
> [@campp](#): > > What we need are car _periscopes_. Kramer, that’s a stupid idea! There’s no room for a periscope! And don’t you try to tell me about making the roof higher! ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/31 "2015-06-24T20:23:18Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > As the years go by, the number of people who get these references grows frewer and frewer. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/32 "2015-06-24T22:53:41Z")
I submit that anyone who thinks this tv system is a good idea has NEVER driven a big rig. I did for 12 years. It’s a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/33 "2015-06-25T00:15:47Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I submit that anyone who thinks this tv system is a good idea has NEVER driven a big rig. I did for 12 years. It’s a bad idea. You are not allowed to comment. You actually might know something about it. 😛 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/34 "2015-06-25T01:20:56Z")
I see it as completely unnecessary. On interstates, it’s easy enough to see around the truck. On a slow country road, the road often is not good enough to pass on. By that I mean, depending on what part of the country you live in, it could be hilly, have curves, or simply be too slow of a road to pass on. People need to learn to drive defensively, and be responsible for their own driving, not depend on some screen on the back of truck. Another thought: where would the camera be? What if it gets hit with rain or bugs? The view on the screen may not be ideal, and the truck driver may not know it. If the camera’s inside the cab, like a dashmount, it could be subject to the bouncing of the cab. All that may be answered in the link(s), I’m not sure. I admit to not looking. I still think it’s a bad idea though. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/35 "2015-06-25T07:06:08Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Bad idea. Drivers will see what’s in front of the truck, and not the truck itself. > > It reminds me of an idea I had 20-25 years ago for a science fiction ‘cloaking device’. The space ship would be completely covered with a mosaic of small video panels and cameras. (Or maybe it was combined camera/display devices – it’s science fiction, right?) The system would be set up to integrate the images as seen from any angle. So when an observer looked at the ship, he sees what’s on the other side of the ship and the ship itself was ‘invisible’. (The system could also be used to camouflage the ship as a different ship or other thing.) You should totally sue Disney for stealing your idea and putting it in their _Chicken Little_ movie… ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/36 "2015-06-26T02:35:00Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Bad idea. Drivers will see what’s in front of the truck, and not the truck itself. > > It reminds me of an idea I had 20-25 years ago for a science fiction ‘cloaking device’. The space ship would be completely covered with a mosaic of small video panels and cameras. (Or maybe it was combined camera/display devices – it’s science fiction, right?) The system would be set up to integrate the images as seen from any angle. So when an observer looked at the ship, he sees what’s on the other side of the ship and the ship itself was ‘invisible’. (The system could also be used to camouflage the ship as a different ship or other thing.) I have read a couple of novels where the bridge of the starship would disappear and show the surrounding space, instead. This is well within the reach of the current technology. How about putting it inside your cars; the ultimate tour vehicle. Bob ---
**Author:** ![Recusant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@Recusant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recusant)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/37 "2015-06-26T03:00:52Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I like it, although a 4:3 aspect for the display would be more effective than 16:9 in such an application, in my opinion. Actually, this is one of the handful of places where it wouldn’t. A 4:3 display is perfect when it’s something to focus your entire attention on; that’s the aspect ratio the human eye sees in. But a single display unit consuming your entire visual focus while you’re driving is a really bad idea. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > ETA: I also have trouble visualizing the real safety enhancement, all things considered. What’s in front of a truck is not you, Joe I. (for Impatient) Driver’s concern. What’s in front of the truck is the truck driver’s concern. What that affects is the flow of traffic, which is the concern of everyone in that part of the road. If you were to develop a functional map of the road around you and the other vehicles’ position in it, every truck driver you ever drove near would thank you for it. That said, given the attitudes and behaviors of the average driver, they’d either ignore the screens, or everything but the screens. I can’t see this ending well without some society-wide changes that would render it unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/38 "2015-06-26T14:27:22Z")
> [@Recusant](#): > > What’s in front of the truck is the truck driver’s concern. What that affects is the flow of traffic, which is the concern of everyone in that part of the road. If you were to develop a functional map of the road around you and the other vehicles’ position in it, every truck driver you ever drove near would thank you for it. I disagree. I drive a truck and I NEVER indicate its safe for another driver to do anything. People are stupid, especially so when driving, and I don’t want someone wrecking their car and saying I told them to. I’m driving a billboard naming the huge corporation I work for and it attracts gold diggers like flies on shit. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/39 "2015-06-26T15:57:29Z")
I’d rather just build roads large enough to accommodate the traffic they are going to bear than tart up all manner of vehicle with stupid tech ideas like this. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252/40 "2015-06-26T15:59:44Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I’d rather just build roads large enough to accommodate the traffic they are going to bear than tart up all manner of vehicle with stupid tech ideas like this. YMMV. Agreed. I don’t see this catching on in the U.S. To much potential for liability. “I looked at the screen and didn’t see any car coming, so started to pass and then …boom” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-screens-on-back-of-tractor-trailers-a-great-idea/723252.md?page=3)