Topic: Your Side mirror settings

[mp3butt]

Hi guys,

I am just curious how you guys set the side-mirrors. When I was younger I set them to a point that i just missed the side the car.

pro: you see the traffic from behind and on the 2 lanes of your side
con: you have to shoulder check everytime you do lane-change.

Now, as a Kenziean I set them in a way that they cover the blinds spots. I don't have to shoulder check the traffic on the lane adjacent to my vehicle, resulting in quick and decision lane change. However, I am missing out on the blind area on the lane left or right to the adjacent lane.
It is not a problem on city roads, but it could be an issue on 401. Should I stick convex mirror on the side mirrors?

Do you guys have any ideas/insights on this?

Thanks
MP3

[johngenx]

When a car in an adjacent lane is coming behind me, and leaves my central review mirror, it then enters my side mirror.  Upon leaving the view of the side mirror, it is in my peripheral vision.  No blind spots.  If a prospective car's mirrors can't be set this way, no sale.

[No H2O]

I set mine as far to the extremity as possible...outward...the opposite of looking down the side of the car which is pointless!

That setting the way my seat is positioned takes over just past my peripheral vision if I turn my head to the left slightly.

Good post! You average driver is clueless as to how to set the side view mirrors.

[Turbo Bob]

I set mine as far to the extremity as possible...outward...the opposite of looking down the side of the car which is pointless!

That setting the way my seat is positioned takes over just past my peripheral vision if I turn my head to the left slightly.

Having read the article on it now, I have started to do this too.

[mp3butt]

When a car in an adjacent lane is coming behind me, and leaves my central review mirror, it then enters my side mirror.  Upon leaving the view of the side mirror, it is in my peripheral vision.  No blind spots.  If a prospective car's mirrors can't be set this way, no sale.

Hey John,

My setting is exactly like yours. The problem I experience with my GTI is that if a car on the outside lane moves into the adjacent lane at the level of the back of my car, the rather thick D-pillars blocks the motion of the car coming in from the outside. I hope you get what I mean.

thanks
MP3

[HeliDriver]

I set mine the old-fashioned way: so I can just see the side of the car.

I've tried the "new" way a couple of times, and always go back to the old way. The first reason is that, in my experience, there's simply no substitute for a proper shoulder check. Even if your mirrors are set so there is no blind spot in the lane next to you, I want to know what's going on two lanes over, and also want to get a good look (not just peripherally) at what's going on right next to me. No mirror, no matter how it's set up, can give me that.

Second, I use the side mirrors to back into tight spaces. If you can't see the side of your car, how do you know how much room you have between your car and that concrete post?

[Iso Octane]

Old fashioned way here as well.

For the same reasons as above.  It's the best way to get a sense of the traffic around me, it's the best way to judge if it's safe (and appropriate) to switch into the next lane, and I use it to help me park. Why setup the mirrors for a single use function?  Shoulder checking isn't hard.

[dr_spock]

I have mine setup so that when a vehicle disappears from my rear view mirror, it'll show up in the left or right side mirrors.   I still do the shoulder check to be sure.

[The Mighty Duck]

I still do the shoulder check to be sure.

No matter how you set up your mirrors, shoulder checking is important. I usually check, indicate, check again, and move... better safe than sorry.

[initial_D]

I normally just shoulder check, then accelerate to change to the next lane.

Don't pay a lot of attention to the mirrors.

[Loudpedal]

I adjust my side mirrors at an angle that no portion of the side of the car is visible, however, I am also a shoulder checker.   

On some cars with the reversing mirror down feature, selecting reverse simply drops the mirrors to curb or road level.  Adjusting the mirrors to a more outwardly position would drop the mirrors to somewhere in the next parking spot...  

[Schmengie]

I'm with John. Normally I adjust my side mirrors so that as a vehicle beside me passes, I can see it enter the side mirror just as it's leaving the center rearview. With the passenger side mirror adjusted that way I can just see the side of the car. The Versa has big mirrors and windows, and other than the C-pillar, not much in the way of blind spots so outward vision is excellent. That makes shoulder checking easy - mirrors are no substitute for that. 

[vdk]

Hi guys,

I am just curious how you guys set the side-mirrors. When I was younger I set them to a point that i just missed the side the car.

pro: you see the traffic from behind and on the 2 lanes of your side
con: you have to shoulder check everytime you do lane-change.

Now, as a Kenziean I set them in a way that they cover the blinds spots. I don't have to shoulder check the traffic on the lane adjacent to my vehicle, resulting in quick and decision lane change. However, I am missing out on the blind area on the lane left or right to the adjacent lane.
It is not a problem on city roads, but it could be an issue on 401. Should I stick convex mirror on the side mirrors?

Do you guys have any ideas/insights on this?

Thanks
MP3

Get the convex EU mirrors. They're like $50.

[huota]

Old fashioned way + shoulder checks.

I park in tight spots all the time and couldn't do it if I have the mirrors set otherwise, or I would have to adjust them all the time.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

No matter how you set up your mirrors, shoulder checking is important. I usually check, indicate, check again, and move... better safe than sorry.

I still remember the proper procedure from when I took young drivers about 12 years ago.  rear view mirror, side mirrof, signal, side mirror, shoulder check.

[PJungnitsch]

Should I stick convex mirror on the side mirrors?

Yep. If you have the convex's there is no need to shoulder check. If the EU type have two pieces of glass in the same mirror(convex and standard) then that is ideal, still looks stock.

[HeliDriver]

Our Suburban has dual mirrors (normal on top and a convex one on the bottom). It is very handy, and does eliminate the blind spot, but I still need to shoulder check.

I can think of one incident that illustrates the point: me in the left lane, the middle lane clear, and a pickup in the right lane. I wanted to move back into the middle lane, and from both the mirrors and situational awareness, I knew there were no cars in the way.

But, when I did a quick shoulder check to make absolutely sure, I saw that the guy in the truck two lanes over was also craning his neck around in his own shoulder check. So, even though everything was clear at the time, the shoulder check showed me that we were both about to move into the same open spot at about the same time. I never would have picked that up from a mirror check alone.

I also had another close call with a bike courier who came straight at me from the side, a little behind, and perpendicularly across three lanes of city traffic. My blind spot was clear, but if it wasn't for a shoulder check, I would have changed lanes right into him. Of course, in that case I wouldn't have felt too bad about it.