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How to Eliminate the Dreaded “Blind Spot”

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Re: How to Eliminate the Dreaded “Blind Spot”

#171

Post by baddox »

jessaustin wrote: post #164
baddox wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But if you don't check every single time, you will eventually make a mistake and hit another car. I don't really follow that logic. If I check every single that it's necessary to check, by definition that is adequate. Of course I'm not genuinely bothered that the driver test proctor scored me by-the-book, I'm sure that's much easier and more consistent for them and it probably rarely makes a difference between pass…

The rule is designed for humans who lack perfect judgment. If you aren't in that category, why are you driving an automobile?

That still doesn't make sense. Why does the rule "always look over your shoulder" work for imperfect humans, but the extremely similar rule "always check your mirrors" doesn't? Both rules obviously work when followed and don't work when not followed.

Re: How to Eliminate the Dreaded “Blind Spot”

#172

Post by snotrockets »

Nadya wrote: post #152
kpsychwave wrote: post #45

Blind spot mirrors solve this issue, and they are very cheap. I am surprised they are not mandated by manufacturers.

They look ugly and people don't want them. It should be mandated by law, much like seatbelts IMO.

Current US legislation forces those blind spots by requiring the driver side mirror to not distort distances. Change that law to match the rest of the world, where the blind sports are much smaller: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_mirror#Planar.2C_convex.2... (and if you drive a car that has a EU-equivalent model, sometimes you can import EU mirrors. Best $100 I spent on my VW).

And while you're at it, also match the headlights with the ECE, such as to not blind oncoming traffic: https://web.archive.org/web/20170120092812/http://www.motive...

Re: How to Eliminate the Dreaded “Blind Spot”

#174

Post by jessaustin »

baddox wrote: post #171
jessaustin wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rule is designed for humans who lack perfect judgment. If you aren't in that category, why are you driving an automobile?

That still doesn't make sense. Why does the rule "always look over your shoulder" work for imperfect humans, but the extremely similar rule "always check your mirrors" doesn't? Both rules obviously work when followed and don't work when not followed.

No rule will prevent all collisions of automobiles driven by humans. There's no free lunch here. If you want to be safer, drive less. TFA is fun, but mostly because it pretends that cyclists don't exist. IRL, there is a trade-off between turned-head blind spot checks and hidden-pedestrian alertness. You weren't talking about that trade-off, though. You were assuming that you always keep perfect track of your mirrors. Safety experts are quite sure that you don't.

Re: How to Eliminate the Dreaded “Blind Spot”

#175

Post by m1n1 »

pdonis wrote: post #81
Freestyler_3 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This method requires you to also lean into the mirror to see more towards the side of the car. It is ridiculous, because the side mirrors should give you a far away view, and then you look to the side to make sure that closeby there is nothing either. You only have to turn your head. Now this method in the article would make you lean into mirror to get behind you, then you go back to normal position and look in the m…

> This method requires you to also lean into the mirror to see more towards the side of the car. You don't need to move your head at all to see a car at any point while it is coming up behind you and passing you: that's the whole point of adjusting your mirrors the way the article describes. As the article notes, you should still turn your head before making a maneuver like changing lanes. But because your mirrors ar…

> You don't need to move your head at all to see a car...

But what I'm saying is the article's suggestion doesn't allow me to see something smaller like a motorcycle with the mirrors, and either I'd have to turn my head even further to see it with the mirrors in suggested position to check that area or -- worse yet -- I can't physically see that spot without the aid of a mirror.

Re: How to Eliminate the Dreaded “Blind Spot”

#176

Post by wahern »

baddox wrote: post #126
kazinator wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had plenty of moments in my 33 years as a driver where a vehicle dropped out of the sky and into my blind spot; they just do that! The problem is that your attention isn't riveted on the mirrors at all times. If you have been sternly monitoring the mirrors in the previous fraction of a minute, then such a hypothesis does hold. In road tests, you have to do everything by the book, though. They want to see that yo…

> The problem is that your attention isn't riveted on the mirrors at all times. Well, sure, no one is going to be perfect, but similarly, no one is going to always check over their shoulder. > In road tests, you have to do everything by the book, though. Of course. I expect proctors to do things by the book. That's easier and more consistent than trusting each proctor's judgment. My complaints about the test methodol…

> Well, sure, no one is going to be perfect, but similarly, no one is going to always check over their shoulder.

Plenty of people do. I do. You make it a habit so it's not something you even think about. Or put another way, it's like brushing your teeth--it's something you do because not doing it makes you uncomfortable. (And as someone who had to develop the habit of brushing as an adult rather than being trained as a young child by attentive parents, I know it's possible to develop such habits belatedly.)

I've found that in modern cars the B pillars are so far forward and wide that the value of the blind spot check is diminished. In my 2018 mid-sized SUV I have to stretch so far to see the blind spot that in heavy freeway traffic I feel like I'm taking my eyes off the road ahead for too far long. So I'm on the fence on the turning the head thing and suspect some day soon pervasive collision avoidance systems will definitively settle the matter, though I'm not sure I'll ever be able to break the habit myself.

But it's definitely a mistake to think that it's not practical to consistently do something as simple as checking your blind spot. It's perhaps one of the few driving tasks that one can reasonably expect to perform with near perfect consistency, even during emergency situations like when you're tempted to veer to avoid a rapidly approaching road hazard.

Re: How to Eliminate the Dreaded “Blind Spot”

#179

Post by m1n1 »

danjayh wrote: post #138
pdonis wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This method requires you to also lean into the mirror to see more towards the side of the car. You don't need to move your head at all to see a car at any point while it is coming up behind you and passing you: that's the whole point of adjusting your mirrors the way the article describes. As the article notes, you should still turn your head before making a maneuver like changing lanes. But because your mirrors ar…

Exactly. The article doesn't state it quite so clearly, but any mirror showing space that can't be occupied by another vehicle is wasted mirror. Turn them out further.

Disagree, see my reply to your parent.

Re: How to Eliminate the Dreaded “Blind Spot”

#180

Post by kazinator »

baddox wrote: post #171
jessaustin wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rule is designed for humans who lack perfect judgment. If you aren't in that category, why are you driving an automobile?

That still doesn't make sense. Why does the rule "always look over your shoulder" work for imperfect humans, but the extremely similar rule "always check your mirrors" doesn't? Both rules obviously work when followed and don't work when not followed.

It is not feasible to be always monitoring the mirrors; that takes attention from what is in front of you. You in fact must not be constantly monitoring the mirrors, but only glancing from time to time.
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