By Peter Gold
In the United States of America, no safety standards are required to allow a vehicle driver to see an opened vehicle door in the path of his or her vehicle. To make matters worse, the reporting of the contributing cause (an unseen vehicle door with a pedestrian outside the vehicle) is not reported, only the pedestrian death.
To reduce the incidents of pedestrian deaths as a result of an unseen, opened vehicle door, a new universal application was invented to provide a Zone of Illumination, allowing all opened vehicle doors to provide a visual warning to other vehicle drivers.
1. What is a Zone of Illumination? The area illuminated by another vehicle driver’s headlights at night on the interior lower edge of a vehicle door that cannot be blocked by a person standing outside a motor vehicle.
2. Why is a light or a reflector useless in providing a Zone of Illumination? Because the people they are meant to protect are standing outside the vehicle door blocking the light or reflector entirely so they cannot be seen by other vehicle drivers at night.
3. What percentage of light does a Zone of Illumination provide to another vehicle driver? Upwards of 60 percent.
4. What percentage of horizontal area on the lower edge of a vehicle door is reflective? 100 percent. The entire lower edge is exposed in the path of traffic at night to provide a Zone of Illumination.
5. How was the estimate of 36,000 lives lost per year to the contributing cause of an unseen vehicle door at night calculated? One death per 10 million vehicles per night based on one billion vehicles globally. It is additionally estimated that one million lives have been lost since the inception of the motor vehicle.
6. How can I learn more and protect myself and my family by having a Zone of Illumination (sold under the U.S. Trademark Inview Vehicle Trim and U.S. Patent No. 9,308,859) applied to the doors of my vehicle? When buying or leasing a new vehicle, ask for Inview vehicle Trim to be applied prior to buying or leasing. On you current vehicle, ask your vehicle dealer for the availability and installation of Inview Vehicle Trim in their service department.
7. Will Inview Vehicle Trim take away from the appearance of my vehicle, either outside or inside my vehicle? Great question, but no! Why? Because it is applied below the interior door panel to the lower edge of your vehicle door. No one can see it from inside or outside the vehicle until the vehicle door has been opened.
Peter Gold is the inventor and CEO of Inview Vehicle Trim. For more information, please visit www.inviewvehicletrim.com.
