This really is a helpful tip, and I would suggest that all Islanders take a look at this tip as it may help to avoid an accident or two which certainly could have been avoided.
I’ve written before about how bad Islanders are at driving.. and generally it’s when I’m on my way home for lunch every day. I’ve decided that once I get a little mini-HD camera, I’m going to mount it to my dash every day and just record my daily commute home. I swear to you there isn’t a day go by that someone doesn’t do something stupid.
Ok, back to my tip for the day.. and it’s not the first time I’ve heard about this tip either, but I seem to go back to my old ways for some reason which I will try to avoid in the future.
My car has horrible blind spots, or at least I think it does. Let me ask you.. how do you line up your rear view mirrors? Obviously the one in the middle of the windshield is going to be facing straight back (and not checking to see if your adult acne treatment is working while you’re driving) – but your two door mirrors, are you like me and adjust them so that you can see a little bit of my own car, and the rest is ‘hope for the best’?
Well, what Car and Driver suggests is that you take that you move those mirrors outside their ‘normal’ range and put them just outside the range of your rear view mirror. This will basically extend the range that you can see, and in most cases, eliminate your blind side.
Here is the article from Car & Driver:
For the past few years, various carmakers have been offering blind-spot detection systems for their cars’ side mirrors. Often complex, these systems employ cameras or radar to scan the adjoining lanes for vehicles that may have disappeared from view.
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) published a paper in 1995 suggesting how outside mirrors could be adjusted to eliminate blind spots. The paper advocates adjusting the mirrors so far outward that the viewing angle of the side mirrors just overlaps that of the cabin’s rearview mirror. This can be disorienting for drivers used to seeing the flanks of their own car in the side mirrors. But when correctly positioned, the mirrors negate a car’s blind spots. This obviates the need to glance over your shoulder to safely change lanes as well as the need for an expensive blind-spot warning system.
The only problem is getting used to the SAE-recommended mirror positions. The cabin’s rearview mirror is used to keep an eye on what is coming up from behind, while the outside mirrors reflect the area outside the view of the inside rearview mirror.
Those who have switched to the SAE’s approach swear by it, however, some drivers can’t adjust to not using the outside mirrors to see directly behind the car and miss being able to see their own car in the side mirrors. To them we say, “Have fun filling out those accident reports.”
