This is an important topic, especially if you share a car with a family member or friend. I know when my wife Sherry uses my car, she likes to adjust the rear and side view mirrors so she can get a better view of what’s going on around her. Hey, I’m not complaining! But, when I get in after her to drive, I sometimes forget to adjust the mirrors back to my liking before leaving the house.
This can create a problem once you’re back on the road because your blind spots might be different than the previous person who drove your car or truck. Most modern cars are equipped with mirrors that eliminate blind spots if you know how to set them correctly, and I found a site that explained how to do just that. Take a moment and read over this so you’ll know how to set your mirrors the next time you’re in your new car or truck:
1. The first step is to adjust the rear-view mirror to do exactly that — give you a view directly to the rear. Position it so that it best covers your view straight out the rear window. Don’t bother tilting it to one side or the other to assist with your view of traffic to either side of your car.
2. Next, lean your head until it almost touches the driver’s side window. Then, adjust your left side mirrors so that you can just barely see the side of your car, and no more than that.
3. Lean your head to the right towards the middle of the car and adjust the right side mirror so that you can just barely see the right side of your car. You should NOT be able to see the side of your car when your head is perfectly upright.
4. Check for blind spots by doing the following: While driving along a four-lane road in the right lane, note a vehicle in the left lane coming up to pass you from behind. Without moving your head, glance in the rear-view mirror and follow it as it approaches your car in the left lane. Just before it disappears from your view in the rear-view mirror, glance to the left side mirror. There it is. Now follow that vehicle in the side mirror as it begins to pass you. Then, just before it disappears from the side mirror, you should see it with your peripheral vision.
Notice that without even turning your head, you never had a blind-spot. Then try it with the right side mirror. Watch as you pass a vehicle traveling in the right lane go from your peripheral vision, to your right side mirror, to your rear-view mirror. Again, no blind-spot. If there is a blind spot for even a fraction of a second, your side mirror adjustment needs some fine-tuning.
