STI_S204

I corrected my mirror like a year ago, and my wife say what a big improvement and love it...although it does take sometime to get use to that, but what's the point using all three mirrors looking at the back only?

And now I can notice how many people did not have mirror correctly...cause I cannot see the other person face at his mirror when I drive close by him, I wonder if he can see me...

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…what to do with the time that is given to us…

filibence

Mirrors are adjusted.

I'll have to wait till tomorrow for my opinion.

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Silly Rabbit, Mod Lists are for Kids!
THE COOKIE MONSTER

Forester 2.5 XTi

I wish more drivers would do this...no news to me.

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USMC - One Shot, One Kill. You can run, but you'll die tired.

Tau137

No, that is not a correct statement. I am well aware that am not better than anyone else, and not trying to brag (I did use a stopwatch just to get the idea of the timing) - the numbers were put there just as an example to point out the timing/distance exaggeration in one of the posts above.

Anyway, I did not mean to start a flame here, no did I want to insult anyone. If I did, I apologize.

Not quite, since the process is dynamic and to obtain that information in the first place active scanning is required in most cases (I know you know). Plus, I know that at least my memory is not always that reliable.

Two lanes? With flat mirror? No way. Even if you manage to get it out that far, you will have huge blind spot in the very next lane, thus betraying the whole idea of full coverage with less neck strain.

Also, as I tried to point out before, another problems is the lack of reference point. Because of very narrow viewport (I'm talking about driver side mirror), you'd only see a small part of the scene (e.g., part of the car(s)), making it difficult to get the relative motion speeds correctly. And relative positions as well. The latter one I think can be learned, but the former will remain a problem for most. If you can do it - great, I envy you. I cannot. Not reliably. And neither can anyone I have driven with (disclaimer: there are no racing drivers or driving instructors in that list).

That means that you must be able to see (or just about to see) the side of your own car in your side view mirror(s), or you would have a blind spot near the rear fender - big enough for a motorcycle, at least. In other words, "the proper way" as I see it, or close enough to it (i.e., the "classical" blind spot will remain where it was, almost unchanged). If so, then what are we arguing about?

Or did I misunderstood the point points people here were trying to make, mistakenly assuming that the advertised mirror setup involved significant outward angle, pointing it into the former blind spot? I guess not, since I read about the Russell's method, and it is indeed what I was arguing against... The biggest problem is that this method, while decreasing the old blind spot, creates a new, much more dangerous one, since you cannot effectively and quickly "check over your shoulder" for that one. Yes, this allows for easier detection of "most common" threats, but at the cost of somewhat less likely but potentially lethal encounter. Imagine a fast bike or small car overtaking you on the left (driver's side), getting into that blind spot either from a turn or changing from second-left lane, ending up right near your rear-left corner as you check your mirrors before changing lanes to the left... You may have a chance to detect it, but it is only a chance no matter what you do (well, you could pay much more attention to active scanning, but that'd require even more head turning, much more concentration and reaction time loss that the "classical" way). Not good enough, IMNSHO.

And, yet again - few people can probably adapt to this and use it just as effectively. But quite a few (I'd even say majority) might glance over the potential drawbacks... Especially after all the rave reviews this method got even in just this forum. I hope I made my point clear enough, and that those who want to try this out first think it through, and remember that they'd still have a blind spot - just in a different place. There is nothing more I can do here... expect to recommend getting the convex blind spot mirrors instead - they do a much better job without any problems.

8 years of driving, probably still below 100K miles. One non-fault accident (8 years ago). A couple of speeding tickets.

Takami826

I like when people have their mirrors aimed right at the sides of their cars... do they lose 'sense' of where their doors are??

When I took drivers ed, we were taught this because, at least at the time, you would lose points if you turned your head, even while parallel parking. Mirrors only. Not that I agree with that, it's caused me a few near misses in my early driving days.

Korrie

Amazing that settings mirrors can get so many riled up. Very entertaining. Driving an automobile involves humans which involve errors. Everyone makes mistakes. Even ones own eyes can play tricks when tired or when driving for long hours. I don't think a mirror setting is going to improve a person's driving or make it worse. At least once per day/drive/commute/etc I have to avoid someone or something. Sometimes I think I'm a magnet for stupidity. Most of the time it's people being totally inatentive or simply distracted. Mirrors won't change this.

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'08 Forester 2.5X 5spd Blue

sirwilliam

Well, I tried this procedure out yesterday and do not like the outcome. I feel even more blind w/ it setup like this. Back to the old way

NOTE: I also have the little convex mirror add-on so that I can see cars in my blind spot.

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BLUE WASABI v2

dwmoss

I've been using this method for my drivers side for the last 3 years or so. I haven't done the lean right method for the passenger side, but will give this a shot.

I'm also a head turner, physically glancing over my shoulder before changing lanes.

Sirwilliam give it another day or two before switching back!!

dm

Tau137

I need to confess something here: I did not look at this link before now (Popular Mechanics would never be my choice for reliable information). The picture shown there is very educational though, since the "right" one indeed shows the proper mirror alignment. HOWEVER, the method described to achieve this will result in a view [from normal driving position] quite different to what is shown (see below)... unless you prefer to bang your head on the glass to eliminate that rear blind spot (while still having to turn it somewhat to cover the remaining part of the "old" blind spot to the side).

P.S. The drawing is not quite to scale - the covered areas should be significantly narrower for the driver's side. The point still stands though.

Attached Thumbnails

 

twg

I used to set my mirrors the "old" way for a good 15+ years... until I started taking defense driving courses and autox courses... I've slowly started to move my mirrors out to the "new" way, and I like it..

it DOES take some time to get used to, but it DOES help... the whole concept is easy, why do you have your side mirrors cover the SAME space that the rear view mirror covers ? It's a waste...

you want your side mirrors to have a slight overlap with the rear view mirror coverage, with this setup, you should be able to cover off all of your blind spot...

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2004 FXT

guroove

This is funny, because when I first read the thread, I agreed with you, but when I saw the pictures, it appeared as if I had them adjusted properly all along. I guess the way I have them is somewhere in the middle, which is perfectly safe and comfortable for me. The method described does seem really odd to me. I drive with my seat pretty far forward because of my short japanese male legs. When I adjust my mirrors, I keep my head back all the way back against the head rest. When I'm driving, my head leans forward a little, and I get more of the side view, and I can see even further outward towards the sides the further forward I lean my head.

I think everyone has their own method that works for them, but one thing that is for sure is that you don't need to see the side of your own car in your side view mirrors. If you are able to see them barely, that seems about right.

My wife drives with the seat a little further back than I do, but we never seem to need to adjust the side mirrors. I suppose she likes to see more of the side of the car than I do. I don't think there is anything wrong with the way she has them set because neither of us seems to have trouble with the blindspots. One thing I did notice is that I make lane changes a lot more frequently and quickly than she does, but I also play a lot of racing games and like to drive on the fast side.

Tau137

The first part I agree with: indeed, if you can live without seeing the rear of your car and still have continuous coverage to from rear to side mirrors - why not? Might not work quite well with full cargo bay (i.e., no rear view), but that is a totally different story.

The second part, however, I fail to understand, since the side mirrors set up to have no lapse in cover from the rear view mirror (i.e., no place for a bicycle to fit next to and/or slightly behind your car) will be... well, very close to the way I do it (seeing my own car just at the very edge of the mirror). But a few degrees outward will not make much difference for the side blind spot, so we end up with practically identical setup, and nearly identical blindspot and "over-the-shoulder" looks - nothing to disagree about.

The idea is to get the most useful coverage. Yes, there is an overlap (increasing with distance), but I can only look at one mirror at a time (not the same at glancing at a mirror - the amount and detail of information obtained would be quite different), and when I am changing lanes, I will not be looking in the rear view mirror much, so I need full 180 deg coverage, starting from along the left side of the car to full forward, just in case something comes up there from rear-left at high speed just at the wrong moment. So I'd much prefer the overlap to even a slight blind spot next to my car which I cannot easily cover. Ok, I am repeating myself again, time to shut up.

The Black Box

Is that what this threads about? Sounds like driver's ed. to me... Why would someone need to see the side of their own car?

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'09 STI

Forester 2.5 XTi

I'm a firm believer as to watching what happens on the road continuously. Mirror are waay important. I remember riding in the dump truck with my grandpa as a kid and there is no rear view mirror. He still has an awesome driving record today, and I learned a lot from him in every respect. Every few seconds your brain needs to capture what you see in the mirrors. On a side note, I always know where cops are. I identify headlights, car colors, etc... Know the cars approaching you, know the ones that aren't. I wish more people would drive instead of eat a bowl of cereal, smoke and talk on the phone at the same time. Even worse, texting while driving. I love my Bluetooth headset. I really could go on...

It's nice to have a thread involving serious drivers such as this (us) ;)

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USMC - One Shot, One Kill. You can run, but you'll die tired.

Skotcharu

Dan - great post thanks!

I tried it out this morning for my commute to work and was totally blown away. It's amazing how much better you can keep tabs on the vehicles beside you (from the rear view, the side view, then to your peripheral you never lose sight of them) . There literally is no longer a blind spot.

It does take a little getting used, you have to trust your eyes and not what your brain is thinking.

Huge improvement., thanks again!