[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

When I went for my driver's license test in Australia back in the late nineties, the car I was using had blind spot mirrors. The official who came with me warned me that I was not looking over the shoulder and I responded that I have blind spot mirrors. I will never forget his response. He smiled and said "I am giving you a license to drive any car. Not just ones equipped with these mirrors".

Excellent!
In many European countries if you fail to look over your shoulder during your official DL test drive it is an immediate fail, so is not using mirrors.



Jeroen

[viren83]

PatchBoy, this is some info I would want TEAMP-BHP to keep on the Home page for a long time to come. Thanks a lot for sharing!

Originally Posted by Petropolitan

My WagonR BS III manual says that the side mirrors are to be so adjusted that 1/3rd of the vehicle should be visible in the side view mirrors.

Sad that even manufacturers don't know how to use it.

P.S. The driving instructors in UAE recommend that you always do a shoulder check to detect blind spots. So just before you merge into another lane, look into your IRVM 1st, ORVM 2nd, and only then turn-on the indicator if there's no vehicle visible while merging into that lane, then quickly look over your shoulder and move your car as you do so, and then look straight back at the road and merge fully into the lane. Must say, this is pretty neat way of merging into lanes with fast moving traffic.

[spyder918]

Nice post Patchyboy !!
IMO this area still lacks in innovation compared to the other car accessories, reason as rightly said by Quickdraw as we are too used to it to make new habits. Although rear view cameras are now available they make most of it for parking instead simply because we are not used to it.
Some new innovations like flipping the IRVM's to tackle high beams at night cannot be a solution for ORVM's, and Convex mirror patch as introduced in traditional mirrors cant go well with small sized mirrors.

One possible solution can be a ORVM having flat and convex mirrors both as halved or like new designs one over another folded ready to use when needed.
I was reading this interesting article on ORVM mirror technique dated back to 2012.. wonder why still not implemented anywhere, below is the link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...ind-spots.html

I wish we would have something innovative to get rid of the raindrops on the ORVM's when it rains :-)

[thoma]

This is the kind of posts that add real value to the mass. Appreciate it much, especially when technical knowledge is combined with safety. You are right in saying people don’t like having to learn something new when they have already formed notions or stick to hearsay than challenging it technically.

I have been struggling with my Nissan Micra puny mirrors only to miss vehicles on the ORVM far side; now with this info, I could override my fear of missing anything behind the C-pillars. Though I didn't lean as far as the window, a tilt of the head itself gains a lot of viewing angle on the ORVM far side.

Maybe after trying the circle experiment, my fear of missing a biker behind the C-pillar will completely vanish; have to find out a good open space soon.

[sumitgovil2311]

Lovely article.

All this time I had been using mirrors in a wrong way, without even knowing. This article is really useful.

However, my greater worry now is saving my mirror settings from others - service center guys and other roadside hair adjusters

[hybridpetrol]

Majority of city roads contain just 2 lanes - one for each direction.
So, with the chaotic traffic we face everyday here - all vehicles try to overtake each other. It does not matter if it is just a humble TVS moped, but it would still try to overtake a multi axle bus.
The larger vehicles try to overtake, because, they want to ascertain that they are the kings of the road, and for their own dear lives, smaller ones should move out of way. The smaller vehicles, however, try to overtake large ones because, bigger ones cannot move into all the gaps available!

Reason why I state this is, these days, the distance left between two vehicles in all directions have reduced. You can see the two-wheelers just inches away from the sides, but still not reducing the speed.
Tailgating cars or even buses in inches gap is not uncommon (Suicide mission).
Drivers like us, who want to drive safe have three things to consider: 1) Life our own, and the loved ones who drive with us in our cars. 2) Life of fellow drivers around, and pedestrians, even if they perform unimaginable stunts on a busy road. 3) Our own dear car.
This is the reason, we all want to watch our sides. This also gives us a reference point to understand how close the vehicle is, and whether we should move in the other direction a little bit, or slow down.
In my view, the ORVMs should be set in such a way that around 10% of our side should be visible for this reason. Setting to view more than 10% of our side is pointless anyway.
Having said all that, in a highway, where vehicles are not likely to tailgate or brush each other, it makes sense to expand our views to the nearby lanes, as much as possible.
A driver should constantly adjust the mirrors based on the driven scenario. A single adjustment will not work well for both highways and busy city traffic.

[Renjith Rajan]

This is useful in high speed driving in highways.

But not practical in busy city roads. I tried this mirror settings for quite a while in bangalore city. We need to know *precisely* how many cm clearance is between you and the next vehicle especially when turning. Not quite possible in this settings, so I switched back to more of a traditional mirror settings.

[klassics45]

Wonderful information. I'm sure this is possible with little practice. I already have my setup some where close to this because i learnt my driving from someone who taught me to have the rear view mirror to have the visibility away from the side of our car.

He always said that the ORVMs are not meant to see the length of your car but to maximize the visibility of each side of your car.

So my habit is to adjust the mirror away from the side from the driver's position and now with this information have to extend it further by leaning towards the side of the car.

[alpha1]

1. So how does one establish the frame of reference using the side rear view image? I cannot see anything which specifies how you determine (sub-consciously of course, we are not sitting with scientific calculators on our laps) where you are with respect to the vehicle being shown in the rear view image. Please note I am not recommending keeping a setting that allows you to see the rear windows and perhaps the B pillar!

2. Many of the vehicles do not allow such a wide open position of the side rear view mirrors! I cannot count the number of times I am exasperated because of the narrow opening range offered by the car rear view mirrors. (or perhaps they expect me to sit just 1cm away from the steering wheel )

3. I will try this style and definitely report my findings. Currently my setup is such that I see a sliver of my car's tail on the rear view. That helps me find an anchor.

[amit.s]

Nice article. I was having problems with the all around visibility when I bought the Ecosport, because it has some real thick A pillars and D pillars. On various occasions, I was caught surprised by a car suddenly arriving into my peripheral vision. A month back I spotted this video on Youtube and since then I am trying to adjust to the new mirror setup. Let me tell you, it does take some time and effort to get adjusted into the new setup.

https://youtu.be/KwzUE6PHk4U

[asingh1977]

This is a good article. Can someone please post a photograph (if possible) how much exactly of ones vehicle should be visible if the mirrors are set up as in post#1.

[A M]

Great thread PatchyBoy.

This guy has done this video for those who are lazy enough to read

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tDI4ThwdXg

[Ashdel]

Absolutely Informative... and I have been to US in my last assignment and gave driving test for a local driving license, there is one topic on How to use Side Mirrors in the driving instruction manual. I was used to drive in India and adjusted side mirrors the very traditional way, however post giving the test and driving in US, I understood the importance of adjusting the side mirrors correctly, to mitigate the risk of being caught at the blind spot. Thanks for sharing. Kudos.

[RocketRaccoon]

Originally Posted by vivek.ks

I always remember what Dr. Sheldon Cooper said in Big Bang Theory
Sheldon: One moment. According to my driver’s ed book, a side mirror is properly adjusted when a portion of the is driver’s door handle is visible in the lower right corner. There’s the handle. Oh, no, too far, bringing it back. Optimized. Now, where is the switch to adjust the passenger side mirror?

Funny you mention this. After watching that funny episode I actually tried out Cooper's theory and it worked. I prefer when the passenger side rear door handle is at least partially visible in the ORVM. It also helps if the passenger side ORVM is tilted a little downwards.

[Dinesh Chengalp]

Nice theory on the side mirror placement, @PatchyBoy

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Excellent!
In many European countries if you fail to look over your shoulder during your official DL test drive it is an immediate fail, so is not using mirrors.
Jeroen

I got the same lesson. I still remember my driving instructor Clarence who taught me in California the sequence to change lanes.
First : Check rear view mirror inside the car (for any fast approaching cars in the target lane)
Second : Check the side mirror for the side on which you want to change lanes
Third : "OVER THE SHOULDER"

I got rapped on my knuckles many a time for missing the crucial Third part.

Oh and his precise instructions to align the side mirrors "as far out as possible from the car"... Been long since I saw someone give the same advice. I've been practicing this for a long time and it works flawlessly in traffic and on the highways. Kudos !