I figured this out years ago and have always adjusted my side-view mirrors thusly:
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.
Everything they say and show in that very short article, published 15 years after the 1995 SAE paper, is 100% true. Now it's almost 15 years after that article was written, do people still adjust their side mirrors in the (wrong) goofy way???
That is just weird. I never, ever, heard of adjusting mirrors any other way than ensuring you eliminate the blind spots. Why would you want to see the side of your own car? Not that I am a new driver either, got my license back in '79. Learned it from driver's ed in Ohio and from my father and both grandfathers.
ReplyDeleteI adjusted mine Monday, and am getting used to them.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the info.
I put my head all the way over against the window, then adjust until i can just see the side of the car. Been doing it for years.
ReplyDelete