Shrink Your Blind Spot with these Mirror Tweaks
Your side mirrors can only do so much against the dreaded, frustrating, and extremely hazardous blind spot, and they do even less if you don’t bother adjusting them correctly to thwart the situation.
The blind spot is that magical place where other vehicles, and sometimes cyclists, are cloaked in invisibility and, because they are invisible to you, there is a very high chance that your maneuvers—like changing lanes—can cause catastrophe.
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Although modern vehicles have advanced technology specifically engineered to tackle this vexing problem, according to HowStuffWorks.com writer Kristen Hall-Geisler, “the best defense is the old-fashioned proper mirror adjustment.”
“To adjust the driver’s side mirror, lean until your forehead touches the window glass. Then adjust the mirror until you can just barely see the slightest sliver of the side of your car. When you sit up straight in the driver’s seat, you shouldn’t be able to see your own car at all,” instructs Hall-Geisler.
For the passenger’s side mirror, she advises, “Now lean [right] until your head is hovering over the center console and adjust the passenger’s side mirror the same way. You should just barely be able to see a sliver of your own car.”
Hall-Geisler adds that these mirror-adjusting instructions only apply to mirrors that can be maneuvered electronically.
“If you have to move the mirror glass around with your hands rather than with a switch, then you have to have the window open or walk around to the other side of the car. Give the head position your best guess in that case, or enlist a friend to move the mirrors while you lean.”
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To make your rear view mirror as effective as possible, you need to attend to its placement every time you drive. Hall-Geisler advises that you should sit in the driver’s seat as you always do and tweak it until if reveals as much of the back window as possible when you look up.
Since safe driving hinges on visibility, it’s so important that you do all that you can to be able to see what’s around you while on the road.
News Source: How Stuff Works
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