How many of you look over your shoulder when changing lanes while driving? The answer that I almost always get from people is “I do”. The reason for this, I’m told, is because of my “Blind Spot”. Please do the following and you will eliminate the blind spot and therefore virtually any possibility of hitting another car from the rear or, worse yet, head on.
When you get into your car, adjust your rear view mirror (the one over the dash board), while sitting in your normal driving position, so that you can see all of the back window, and therefore, everyone behind you. BTW, almost everyone does this correctly.
The side view mirrors are the ones that usually are NOT set and used correctly.
The side view mirrors need to be set/adjusted as follows:
While sitting normally in your driver’s seat lean your head and shoulders to the left so that your head is very close to the driver side window. While in that position adjust the driver’s side mirror until the only part of your own vehicle you can see in that mirror is the back door handle of your own car.
Then lean over roughly the same amount to your right and adjust your right side view mirror until you can only see the passenger side back door handle. BTW, the reason the passenger side view mirror has a warning on it that “Objects may be closer in that mirror than they appear” is because that mirror is actually manufactured slightly convex to accomplish the same thing that setting the mirror correctly will do, only with distortion unfortunately.
Now when sitting normally in the driver’s seat the mirrors will properly reflect the location of ALL cars whether behind you or alongside you until you can see them out of the side of your eyes (peripheral vision).
The hardest part of this, especially for “seasoned” drivers, is using them continuously correctly, i.e., not looking over your shoulder while the vehicle is moving. As someone that has looked away from what was ahead of me, for a very short period, and subsequently experienced a high speed head-on collision, I was motivated to take about three to four weeks of consciously applying proper use of the mirrors. I did not like waking up face down in the middle of the highway with many broken ribs, many facial lacerations and severe and lasting neck damage.
BTW, most families with big rig truck drivers in them typically use their mirrors correctly because those drivers know that it works well and they don’t, generally have a rear view mirror for their use.
It works if you make it work!!! All it takes is Practice, Practice, Practice! Do something for 30 times a day for 30 consecutive days and it will become a habit. Good habits allow making good decisions.
Please, please pass this on to everyone that you can – you will save people from needless crashes.