[PatchyBoy]

Originally Posted by karts

I just want to know how do they drive so confidently without them?

Simple logic - you are behind me and can see me. I am ahead and cannot see you. So, the onus to adjust according to my moves is on you

[Travelator]

Originally Posted by karts

How on earth does he think its a distraction? I feel handicapped when I don't have either of the ORVMs especially the passenger side one. I wonder how people drive with the ORVMs folded, do they just drive blindly or just by pure luck and guess work or is there any other trick that am missing? By asking this question am not encouraging driving with folded ORVMs, I just want to know how do they drive so confidently without them?

thats exactly what i keep asking that guy. he claims to have a "ability to sense" vehicles around him. As for the distraction part he says "if i keep looking at these OVRMs on the side, who would look in the front." .
There is no point in giving him the science behind it

[FarPatel]

Karts, as Patchyboy and Travelator said before I could dash off these lines, the trick you're missing is the driver's confidence that you in the car behind will see that his mirror is non-ops and so will give way to him, knowing that he has not seen you, or doesn't care. I see a large number of cabs here in Mumbai have their mirrors folded in, either for this reason, or for fear of damaging them, given the way they themselves drive.
Coming back to the topic, I think using the small circular convex mirror stuck on the ORVMs help a lot, especially if you are more comfortable seeing your car's waistline at the edge of your ORVM. Rogermotors.com has one which seems to be set at an angle and can be rotated to suit your requirements. Here's the link http://www.rogermotors.com/safety/bl...11-69727544031
After reading this thread I am considering going in for this mirror, since I too have been brought up to use the side of my car as a line of reference for anything else I see in the ORVMs.

[rr_zen]

My stint in the US taught me an invaluable lesson for handling blind spots which is to 'look over the shoulder'. It was a tad difficult in the beginning but once I got the hang of it, it inspired a lot of confidence in me. I use that technique till date and would be doing it forever. I agree anyone driving in our country esp in the city would be apprehensive doing this but believe me it helps immensely and its just a matter of time before you become adept at it.

With the above in place, I would still stick to adjusting my ORVMs in a fashion where I get to see a small portion of my car in both of them.

[amit.s]

Although I have more or less adjusted to this setting, I am finding it difficult to reverse the car without being able to see the sides of the car in the mirrors. While reversing I need to have an idea of whether there is any person or object besides the car, but none of my mirrors are in a position to show me that angle. I have a very limited visibility of the backside using the IRVM and the ORVMs are directed away from the car. I think this is similar to the problem of bikers driving too close to the side of the car and hence becoming invisible. Am I doing the settings wrong?

[Swapnil_Alto]

Thanks a lot for sharing this information with us. Even I used to set the mirrors in the traditional way as you said. While reading your post, I could clearly imagine how risky it is to set the mirrors in the traditional way. Whereas it is so helpful to set it in the way you've shown. I see many people using just the right ORVM and keeping the left one unused and while they change to the left lane, they remove their eye from the road and rotate their head towards the left to check whether there is any vehicle or not, this is an extremely dangerous practice while changing lanes. My car, '04 Alto is a standard variant and didn't come with a left ORVM. Since I started driving, I installed a left ORVM and now have upgraded to the VXi type ORVMs, they surely help a lot. Will use the same technique from now on as you stated. Thank You.

[srinih75]

Originally Posted by Swapnil_Alto

I see many people using just the right ORVM and keeping the left one unused and while they change to the left lane, they remove their eye from the road and rotate their head towards the left to check whether there is any vehicle or not, this is an extremely dangerous practice while changing lanes.

My trainer in the USA taught me to handle this with a simple trick. Try to change lane only if there is a duration of 5 seconds between my car and the one in front. This way I have 1 second to do the "mundi modify" ritual. This turning head is the best way to spot the two wheeler or the car that just appeared from no where behind one's tail gate. This happens mainly only in high speed lane changes.

In city traffic you have guiding systems from our neighbours who will honk even before you consider changing your lane and I feel the tech like blindspot assist on Mercs at times are redundant.

[a4anurag]

Here's another video giving a way to adjust the mirror's to eliminate blind-spots:

Adjusting the mirrors

Shall try and see how it fares.

[sridhu]

Adding this bit of information here as this was discussed a while earlier. (Mods re-route appropriately, if this is the wrong forum)

TL;DR: Adjust RHS with your head against the door jamb & the LHS with your head in the centre of the car.

How to adjust your mirror, the video:

Adjusting Mirrors to Eliminate Blind Spots

For people like me, who would rather read, this article might be of help.

My usage experience: It is quite weird and seems slightly dicey in our roads. I believe it is basically a matter of getting used to it rather than anything fundamentally wrong with it. Going to stick with it for a month and will let you folks know.

[Thad E Ginathom]

The problem is that there is a reason for the "traditional" way of setting ORVMs. Showing part of the side of your own car in them allows one's brain to relate the image, direction and distance, to one's own car.

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by sridhu

My usage experience: It is quite weird and seems slightly dicey in our roads. I believe it is basically a matter of getting used to it rather than anything fundamentally wrong with it. Going to stick with it for a month and will let you folks know.

I don't think this method of adjusting is practical in daily Indian driving. Our rear view mirror are not only used for blind spots but also to get out of tight corners. Hence keep the mirror focused too far from the edge of the car under normal viewing will make it hard to manage in tight spots that are a daily occurrence.
My suggestion would be to try this method on highways, it would be a boon there.

[swissknife]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

If offtopic, also offtopic...

The problem is that there is a reason for the "traditional" way of setting ORVMs. Showing part of the side of your own car in them allows one's brain to relate the image, direction and distance, to one's own car.

I agree with this line of thought. When I see my car on the wing mirrors, it immediately helps me relate to the surroundings faster and more accurately. I also don't want to see a whole lot of sky on my mirrors. By positioning them to see a bit lower, it also helps to parallel park with better visibility of the area near the rear left tyre.

In addition, I have a clip on mirror which wider by about 50% and has a slightly higher curvature which gives me visibility from B-pillar to B-pillar. The fact that the default mirror is not a high-tech one does not have me miss anything by not using it. Yes, it does take some getting used to since object visible in them are closer than they appear. But then, with regular use my brain has adapted.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Sahil

I don't think this method of adjusting is practical in daily Indian driving....

Agreed!

Had expanded on this in a post from 2009 that I'm quoting below >>

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Sure, it does give a "wider view", but it also increases the size of the blind spots accordingly. Convex rear-view mirrors are standard on most cars to enable a wide enough view without having to sacrifice any visibility in the immediate proximity of your car.

Take a look at this :



There is a clear difference in the size of the blind spots.

Also, my arguement was that "place your head against the window" is a VERY vague way of adjusting your mirrors. The amount of space between the drivers seat position and the window from car to car can alter this greatly (Think hummer H1 vs santro).

In addition to that, where they place their head when doing this adjustment (ie closer to the A pillar or the B pillar) makes a huge difference with the angles.

The possible result : a completely lost mirror positioning especially since there isn't any frame of reference!

Sure, but this also means that there is some amount of a blind spot unless you are leaning left or right!! This blind spot could be small or huge - but its hard to tell unless you have some frame of referece - ie your car body visible.

Take this for example, a typical indian scenario where a biker is riding on your bumper. Also, lets assume that you only check your left mirror before making a left turn (not your right or your in-cabin mirror).




Hope my points are clearer now, and i can convince you back to keeping a bit of your car visible!

As others mentioned, it also helps a lot with parking/ reversing in tight spaces.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Agreed!

Had expanded on this in a post from 2009 that I'm quoting below >>

Hey, I wish you'd posted a link to that 2009 thread.

I agree with you on the distance between the driver's seat and the window being different in various vehicles, but I had posted based on my experience with the Fiesta and WagonR.

To cut a long story short, I ensure that the tip of my car is visible in either ORVM during city drives mainly to avoid getting scratches from motor bikes and autos that are close to my car. But on highway drives, I adjust them to match what the opening post of this thread suggests. This helps a lot on multi-lane highways, especially in spotting that Bimmer that is hurtling towards you on another lane.

I have another point. I found looking over the shoulder to the rear left tricky, because the B and C pillars obstruct some part of the view, as does the co-passenger. Instead, I found it better to lean forward and look into the left ORVM as it gives a wider angle, before deciding to change to the left lane. However, this method does not work for left turns or U turns to the left. In such cases, looking over the shoulder to the left is unavoidable.

[swissknife]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Agreed!
Take this for example, a typical indian scenario where a biker is riding on your bumper. Also, lets assume that you only check your left mirror before making a left turn (not your right or your in-cabin mirror).
>>

This is the killer blind spot on Indian Cities. It is not rare to have bikes in the blind spots mentioned (close to the rear left & rear right). It is these spots around the car that are most vulnerable.

Further, the lane widths in Indian roads are narrower than other parts of the world!.