When a Sunshade Becomes a Blind Spot... A Fatal Lesson for Heavy Vehicle Operators

A coronial inquest in Western Australia has delivered a confronting finding for anyone responsible for heavy vehicle safety. A simple, unauthorised cabin modification materially extended a prime mover’s frontal blind spot and a worker was killed.

This was not a high-speed crash, a driver sleeping at the wheel, or dangerous driving. It happened during a routine departure from a roadhouse parking bay.

A modified foil sunshade, fitted inside the windscreen, obstructed the driver’s forward view while a colleague standing in front of the truck was left unseen. The driver moved off and a life was lost.

The finding is blunt: The modification contributed to the death.

This matters far beyond one incident and it demonstrates how easily risk is introduced when controls are allowed to drift, or not assessed prior to tasks being undertaken.

What actually failed?

The truck itself was serviceable, and the driver was licensed, with no reckless behaviour observed.

The failure sat quietly in the cab.

Aftermarket sunshades and visors are often treated as comfort items, and are proven to protect drivers' eyes from sunlight while driving. However, they are rarely risk assessed.

In this case, the modification extended the frontal blind zone enough to completely hide a person standing directly in front of the vehicle. Once fitted, this modification became part of the system, resulting in an unmanaged change that had fatal consequences.

Again, it is easy to blame the driver, but this is a classic system failure, not driver error.

Why transport operators should pay attention

Transport and logistics operators, particularly in yards, are low-speed, high-consequence environments. Pedestrians, dogmen, loaders and drivers constantly cross paths. Even at walking pace, blind spots kill.

Forward blind zones on prime movers are already significant. Add non-approved cabin accessories, and the margin disappears entirely. If your safety system relies on drivers compensating for unknown changes to visibility, it is already broken.

The uncomfortable truth for safety leaders This was foreseeable. Regulators had already flagged risks associated with non original reflective visors and window coverings. The hazard was known.

Safety professionals cannot sit behind procedure and call this a one-off. Allowing unapproved vehicle modifications is a conscious systems decision, whether documented or not.

Practical controls that actually work

Vehicle fitment discipline

1. Ban aftermarket cabin window covers, sunshades, visors and internal accessories that alter sightlines. No exceptions without engineering sign off.

2. Maintain an approved fitment register for each vehicle. Only items on the register belong in the cab.

3. Add a daily pre-start check item that explicitly confirms no visibility altering accessories are fitted.

4. Engineering over hope. Install forward facing cameras or low level vision aids on prime movers, particularly for yard and refuelling movements.

5. Treat cameras and sensors as primary controls, not optional extras. Require functional checks at the start of each shift.

Administrative controls that reinforce reality

1. Establish a hard pedestrian exclusion zone in front of heavy vehicles prior to any movement.

2. Mandate a two person all clear for yard departures. One driver. One spotter. Clear radio confirmation. No assumptions.

3. Trigger incident reporting for any breach of exclusion zones or spotter protocols. Normalising near misses is how fatalities queue up.

The Safety Jon view

This death was not caused by a sunshade. It was caused by allowing uncontrolled change into a high-risk workplace.

Trucks are workplaces (defined as such by law) and require the same level of scrutiny, risk management and inspection as any warehouse, workshop floor or office.

They need to be inspected against robust standards, not for compliance, but to manage risk and to educate drivers of the potentially fatal outcome of non-approved accessories in a cab that pulls more than a house.

Organisations operating heavy vehicles have a greater responsibility to their people, fellow motorists, and the general public.