There are smaller things (bicycles, motorcycles, pedestrians) that can sneak into the gap between the side and rearview mirror views here. And colliding with one of those is much more likely to cause serious injury or death than colliding with a car.<p>It's a much better idea to make sure your side and rear mirrors have complete coverage (i.e. no gaps) at the back, and actually turning your head to check the blind spot. Make a habit of doing this on every lane switch or turn, even if you think you're at the side of the road - there may be a bike lane or crosswalk you didn't notice, or someone might be simply be using a nonexistant lane of travel.<p>A good way to adjust your mirrors is to have someone walk by your car, and make sure you can see them in either your rear or side mirrors, and make a note of where you need to look for the blind spot.<p>Of course, even if you make sure the side and rear mirrors provide complete rear coverage, that doesn't always keep things safe - some cyclists and motorcyclists seem to like to jump out from behind a vehicle to lane-split and then get mad when they see you switching lanes in front of them...
There's an even simpler, more effective way of checking blind spots: Actually turning ones head and looking over the shoulder.<p>The "blind spot" doesn't exist when drivers exercise proper caution and responsible driving behavior.<p>Of course, expecting this of drivers is unrealistically utopian. Nevertheless, a "blind spot" is just another excuse for unsafe drivers.
People who drove cars in the EU and in the USA: did you ever notice how the blind spot problem almost completely disappears in the EU? That's because US enforces in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard #111 [1] that the left side rear view mirror cannot be convex, to aid the detection of the vehicles in the blind spot. I have not yet come up with a good understanding of why that regulation even exists, but personally I feel much safer on the road with the European type rear view mirrors.<p>[1]
49 CFR 571.111 Rear visibility<p>S5.2 Outside rearview mirror - driver's side.<p>S5.2.1 Field of view. Each passenger car shall have an outside mirror of unit magnification [2].<p>[2]
'Unit magnification' mirror means a plane or flat mirror with a reflective surface through which the angular height and width of the image of an object is equal to the angular height and width of the object when viewed directly at the same distance except for flaws that do not exceed normal manufacturing tolerances.
This is one of those things that most people do wrong and just aren't comfortable doing it the correct way. I tried to get my mother to setup her mirrors correctly but she just puts them back to an improper setup. For some reason people can't get past not being able to see the side of their own vehicle in their side mirrors. They think they need this reference point. Drivers education should really be pushing this so at least new drivers will setup their mirrors correctly.
No. A thousand times no. I did this, on the advice of “Click” and “Clack” the CarTalk brothers. Shortly after, I backed into a short concrete pillar and messed up my left rear fender. The pillar was too short to see out of the back window, but I would have seen it if my side mirrors were set correctly as they reach you in school. You have to see where your fenders are going. Imagine if it was a small child back there instead of a pillar.
I can deal with blindspots.<p>What boggles my mind is that some modern cars still have abnormally large ones. Cars with bad crash ratings get shat on but apparently designs with massive blindspots are totally OK.
Related concepts, in the Netherlands they taught everyone to open their car door with the right hand, which makes your head turn and improves odds of spotting a cyclist.<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/16/how-to-safely-open-a-car-door-dutch-style" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/16/how-to-sa...</a>
I've been aligning my mirrors like this for years. I prefer it because I can see cars in immediate adjacent positions without turning my head. It's particularly helpful in situations where I need to very quickly assess the situation, such as unexpected debris on the road and little time to react.<p>As noted, however, motorcycles can draw up unseen. But more often, when it fails, it's a car two lanes over to my rear that changes lanes towards me at the same time I do. it can go completely unseen. So I always do a head check, time permitting.
My father taught me this forever ago when I was learning to drive.<p>If this is done correctly, as a vehicle is coming up on, say, the left of you, as it is leaving your rear view mirror, it's entering the side view mirror. It should actually be in BOTH mirrors simultaneously. There's no blind spot.
Fun fact: European driver-side mirrors actually have a larger FOV than their US counterparts. It took me a while to get used to that when I moved to the US. I ended up buying some small blind spot mirrors that can be stuck onto the car's mirrors. I've been pretty happy with that solution (in combination with looking over my shoulder).
I have used this advice for the past decade and I could not recommend it more. After just few days of driving like that I could not believe how it was possible for me to drive with incorrectly set mirrors like 99÷ of car drivers.
Am I the only one that doesn't find the blind spot to be where this article puts it? (Between the side mirror and the rear mirror's coverage areas.) I can (barely) see the entire side of my car in my side mirror; anything closer to behind me is going to appear in the rear mirror. The part I have trouble with is the <i>other</i> side of the side mirror, that is, the forward part of its coverage. A car can sit forward of what the mirror can see, but not yet in my peripheral vision.<p>So I turn my head when merging, to clear that area.<p>(Perhaps I have my side mirror pointing further "back" than the article?)
These seem like good guidelines, although I would add that drivers should also be aware of other cars that may merge from the side, so you cannot depend entirely on the mirrors. This happens quite frequently in heavy traffic when folks are eager to take any space available
I've almost been hit by so many idiots who don't turn their heads and just trust their stupid mirrors, I want to have 5 minutes alone in a locked room with whoever wrote this article.
I rented a car once that had blind spot cameras in the outside rear view mirrors -- when you turn on the turn signal, it displayed the camera's view in the multifunction display in the middle of the dashboard.<p>It had a better field of view than the mirror, and made it very easy to see if there's a bike or pedestrian beside you. Since it was just a rental, out of habit I still turned my head to look, but it seemed like a useful. I think it even flashed and beeped a warning if there was someone in the blind spot, but that may have only worked for cars.<p>I think these systems should be required for trucks and other large vehicles that have a large blind spot.<p><a href="http://www.carblogmy.com/honda-blindspot-display-system/" rel="nofollow">http://www.carblogmy.com/honda-blindspot-display-system/</a>
Exactly how we were taught to set the mirrors in drivers ed.<p>They don't teach it in Wisconsin. Nor do they teach how to use blinkers, or to deal with multiple people coming up to a stop sign controlled intersection.<p>But I digress.
This is how you end up thinking you don't have blindspots and end up hitting someone/something. Blind spots need to be checked by turning your head unless you have 4 inch round fisheye mirrors that would fit equally well on a dumptruck or semi-truck. Those little tiny spot mirrors on consumer cars? Those are 4/5 times complete garbage and don't give nearly enough vision. If someone walks behind your car, at no point in time should they disappear without moving your head even for a fraction of a second.
I looked at some other "tips" in the folder and found this: <a href="http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~gdguo/driving/RoadMarkings.htm" rel="nofollow">http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~gdguo/driving/RoadMarkings.htm</a> which suggests it's OK to turn into any lane, near or far. That's not acceptable in my state. You must turn into the nearest lane.
[Never mind the next para. See child comment I replied to]<p>In driving school, I was taught to adjust my side mirrors exactly the way described here: rear view mirror points to rear, side mirrors just barely show the side of the car. And still there are blind spots in every car I've driven, no matter how much "fine tuning" I do.<p>This is why blind spot warning systems are a must in any new car I consider buying.
I have a seven year-old Prius and the support columns on the left and right of the windshield are huge. I can't count the number of times I'll be pulling up to a stop sign only to stop and freak out when a pedestrian walks right in front of me. See, they're walking across the cross-walk at a pace that seems to match my slow speed but they're behind that giant support column so I don't see them until I've stopped. Usually, they're freaking out too and mouthing/gesturing bad things at me for not stopping sooner. This, of course, coupled with the fact that they were probably looking at their phone and couldn't hear me because at that speed, the engine has shut off.<p>The instructions in this post are great and I'm going to follow them the next time I get in my car. Still, I hope Toyota and other manufacturers start making pedestrian detection systems and blind spot information systems standard in all vehicles soon.
Side mirrors are called that either because they're mounted on the sides, or to see what's beside you. Specifically they're not there so you can see the sides of your own car.<p>As mentioned in other comments, what you seen in side mirrors are for situational awareness. When performing a manoeuvre, turn your head around to get the best view.
Here's a paper going into some technical details of blind spots and how to overcome them:<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.4271/950601" rel="nofollow">https://doi.org/10.4271/950601</a><p>The Geometry of Automotive Rearview Mirrors - Why Blind Zones Exist and Strategies to Overcome Them
If this eliminates the blind spot, what's the white stripe in the 2nd illustration, between the side and rear mirror views? <i>It's the blind spot.</i> And someone on foot, on a bicycle, or on a motorcycle can fit in it. Turn your head, lazy-ass.
I like how some new cars automatically switch on side cameras the moment you turn on the indicators. Safety Features like these should be mandatory in all vehicles just like seat belts.<p>On a side note I follow the practice described in the article and found it quite useful.
My driving instructor in Sweden gave me a rhyme to remember. It consisted of only three words: blicken, pilen, filen. It literally translates to: the view, the signal, the lane – in that order. Basically you always look through the mirrors first and take a glance to the side your changing lanes into to cover the blind spot, then if it's safe you turn on the signal, and then you switch lanes. It's not entirely accurate, since you need to keep an eye on things all the time, but it's helped me develop a routine that's pretty much impossible to break these days. It's almost like I scan still hear him, 10+ years later. He was a great instructor.
Additional advice:
1. Buy additional spherical mirrors. I bought them for sole reason to see blind spot and they are great. There are oval ones like
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spot-Mirror-Convex-Mirrors-GUARANTEED/dp/B0093LYB20" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spot-Mirror-Convex-Mirrors-GUAR...</a> but I actually found additional small spherical mirrors and added them. They mount on existing mirror.<p>2. Change lanes slowly so if I didn't notice someone, he can dodge or horn me.<p>Those blind spot indicator ligts surely help on newer cars, but I don't have them. I know that it is possible to buy those too.
1. Adjust your side mirrors so they have minimal overlap in coverage, which means you get maximum overall field of view.<p>2. Check your mirrors routinely (though not constantly, that can be distracting in itself). Stuff doesn't just sneak up on you out of nowhere, unless you aren't paying attention. Cars can't materialize in your blind spot, they have to drive there, and if you're paying attention you'll see them, you'll know where they are even when you can't see them in your mirrors directly. Don't just use your mirrors as a final check as you are changing lanes or making a turn, use them to maintain situational awareness around you.<p>3. Check your blindspot by turning your head and <i>looking</i> at it with your eyes <i>before</i> you make a lane change or turn. This is your last minute double check that your situational awareness map of what's around you is accurate. If you've been paying attention then this check will almost always be what you expect, but it's still valuable to double check (the belt and suspenders strategy).<p>4. (actually number zero) STOP FOLLOWING SO CLOSELY. Drive defensively, leave a decent gap ahead of you, don't drive for extended periods of time side by side with other vehicles (especially much bigger ones). This sets you up for success instead of setting you up for failure, it means you have a buffer on your reaction time. If you have an extra second or two of reaction time in addition to your emergency braking distance ahead of you then even if the car ahead of you comes to a dead stop right when you have your head turned for a split second to check your blind spot then you will <i>still</i> be able to come to a stop without hitting them when you bring your head back and react to what's going on, for example. Stack the odds in your favor, not against them. And don't let yourself be ruled by the dumb primitive impulses that tell you driving a car is always a race and you need to "win" and be aggressive and dominate others, etc, it's not any of those things, relax, concentrate on getting where you need to be safely.<p>P.S. Not checking your blind spots by turning your head is illegal in most states.
I've been doing this for years. TBC - it doesn't eliminate the need to check your blind spot anyway (as many have mentioned) - just makes it more likely that you catch something moving unexpectedly into your blind spot, or you catch it before turning to look.<p>Also, the positioning is difficult to get used to, since you kinda have to trust it blindly (you can't get a good idea for where it's positioned based on seeing the side of your car) and then also it's just awful positioning for parking. Not to mention, anyone else using or sharing your car will complain to no end about the weird mirror positions.
I read this article on Hacker News a while back and it seems on target to give pause for thought. I recommend reading it to understand more about saccades. This phenomenon may also help explain some accidents.
Cheers, link next
<a href="https://www.portsmouthctc.org.uk/a-fighter-pilots-guide-to-surviving-on-the-roads/" rel="nofollow">https://www.portsmouthctc.org.uk/a-fighter-pilots-guide-to-s...</a>
I bought these to try to help lessen the blind spot: <a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/Adjustable-Blind-Spot-Mirror-Wide-Angle-Rear-View-Car-Side-Mirror-with-Adhesive/273433031968?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649" rel="nofollow">https://www.ebay.com/itm/Adjustable-Blind-Spot-Mirror-Wide-A...</a>
In India, rear view mirrors with a wider view have been available as "clip on" options for a long time. If those are made standard in cars (instead of as addons), the specific "blind spot" problem would instantly disappear. Many of these aren't even highly convex, and so don't create much of a distance perception problem.
The problem with any adjustment is that he car can just pass from one view to another just between you refocus your eyes between them (ie. from rear to side mirror, from side mirror to side window).<p>The solution is panoramatic rear view mirror (you can see thru the rear plus backseat side windows) and side mirrors with curved section that pretty much eliminate the blind spot
I drive cars that get a bad rep for visibility. This is the advice on mirror adjustment I swear by: <a href="https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15131074/how-to-adjust-your-mirrors-to-avoid-blind-spots/" rel="nofollow">https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15131074/how-to-adjus...</a>
This whole discussion is aggravating. There would be no blind spot if there were two mirrors per side, or those blind spot mirrors, or god forbid, space-remapping cameras or proximity detectors (which now are standard on some cars). It's at the end a cost issue.
Yeah for years I've already done what the link mentions -- basically make the side mirrors point quite some way out. Depending on the vehicle you may have a small "blind spot" still, which is why you _always shoulder check_ before changing lanes or turning!
Similar topic was discussed on HN a while back: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17900759" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17900759</a> I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet.
I cannot adjust my mirrors this way in my new car (they do not go sufficiently far "away" from the side of my vehicle). Had I noticed before buying it, I would have not bought it, but I'm stuck with it now.
I saw this in a magazine years ago and have been doing it ever since.
Last semester I was driving university cars a couple days a week and I would sometimes be amazed at how people had the side mirrors set up.
Lane change assist alerting in modern cars has saved me from hitting cars in my blind spot, this tech makes a beeping alert when you hit the turn signal and a car is in the lane you are signaling towards.
> must have been in the Insured's blind spot, therefore it was an unavoidable accident<p>No shoulder check => gross negligence => revoke license
anyone try the new lcd rearview mirrors. some of them claim no blindspot. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Master-Tailgaters-Mirror-Adjusting-Brightness/dp/B06XHQ1QXX/" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Master-Tailgaters-Mirror-Adjusting-Br...</a>
Works only if lane splitting for motorcycles isn't allowed. You need to be able to see between lanes and the rearview can be obscured by a close following vehicle you.