But what if the person is driving on my left slightly behind me and going the same fucking speed as me in the left lane with their high beams on? Oh my God just fucking pass me already, or get back in the right lane!
Yes I always tell people this when they complain about people behind them blinding them in their side mirrors. Its because your mirror isn't adjusted properly.
Your side mirrors are to view out to the side. Not the back. Your rear view mirror already does that
It makes it so the mirrors are reflecting just behind your head. You set your mirrors so you have to move your head to the side to see down the side of your car. Ideally you view when youd move your head is a straight line from your door handles to the back corner. Grants you the most viewing angles with minimal movement of your head.
You could set the mirrors so your car is just out of view and then lean slightly towards the mirror when parking. That way you are getting the extra field of view while driving. The thing you are doing most of the time while using the car, versus something that only helps during the thing you only do a fraction of the time while using the car.
I think this graphic is meant to show that even this approach provides too much redundant view with your rearview mirror and you should point your mirrors outward more. It's visually disorienting at first but I think it is ultimately better once you get used to it.
It takes practice, honestly. Reading these comments, I realize being raised by a professional truck driver came in, pun intended, clutch. If you're just starting to learn to back up solely with your mirrors -100% possible in any vehicle that's made well, truckers do it every day- go to an auto store near you and get "cheater" mirrors. They're a bit bigger than a silver dollar and attach to your side view mirrors. These small convex mirrors allow you to see your wheels, and the side of your vehicle, without adjusting your sideview mirror itself. After a while, you're going to get a much better sense of the dimensions of your vehicle. Remember- your wheels are never going to move from where they are, and the side of your car is never going to shrink or lengthen. You'll also start to pick up on other visual ques- how bright are your tail lights against the thing you're backing up to? Don't depend on it, but it is something you can see sometimes. Always keep in mind the general shape of the back of your vehicle and if you have any attachments like a trailer hitch. I also recommend riding in the back of your own car for a little bit if possible. It gives you another perspective, adding depth to your visualization
I rent cars often and without fail, the side mirrors are half angled at the car body. Doesn't matter if the seating suggests it was a tall or short person who was previously driving.
IIRC the point of keeping your car in the view is to provide reference for where other cars are to your car. So you know if they're too close to merge in front of.
Driver's Ed never taught me this, nor did my parents or anyone else. Learned it online somewhere (probably reddit tbh) a couple years after I started driving.
Same in the USA. It's a lot easier for the instructor/road tester to see that you're checking blind spots if you turn your whole head instead of just looking with your eyes
Yeah and now they put little blind spot alert lights on the side mirrors that light up when a car is there. Because 99% of drivers don't set their mirrors correct. If you set them correct you would see the car in your mirror - no need for a light! LOL
I would put "instructors" into air quotes here then. Getting a license here in Germany is stupid expensive ($2.5-3k easily these days, often more), takes at least two weeks, but at least they do teach you all the necessary things.
Kinda crazy to me that some of my american friends told me "Oh, I drove around the block twice, was asked if I know where my turn signal stock is and then got my license. Cost me 30 minutes and $25.. yikes.
That's because this is an outdated method of adjusting your mirrors that hasn't been used in like 20 years.
Students are taught to adjust mirrors until they they can just barely see the side of the door in them, which lines the mirrors exactly where they are in your picture.
The side of your own car isn't going to hit you. If you can see any of your own car in the side view mirror then that mirror is positioned incorrectly. Mirrors should be turned outward another 15-20 degrees from the point you mention, to cover blind spots in adjacent lanes.
This is one of my particular driving pet peeves, I know so many people who say they need to be able to see the outside of their car in their side rear view mirrors because it makes them “feel safer.”
When I'm driving directly behind people, I can usually see their face in both side mirrors. I wasn't taught this in drivers ed, but it doesn't take a genius to understand you shouldn't have 3 mirrors aimed at the same exact spot.
I have always angled mine ALL THE WAY out and a little bit down for decades. It drives me crazy when I go to drive a different vehicle and they’ve got half the door taking up the mirror. Like, why do you need to see your own door? That’s not what is going to crash into you
I have borrowed people's cars, set the mirrors like this, and had them complain the next time I saw them after returning it. Same for company cars…people bitch that I leave the mirrors “fucked up”
It is now. When I learned to drive ('70s), the mirrors were set closer in (not quite as tight as in the illustration). After a minor stroke, I had to take a kind of driver's retraining/retesting, and this was one of the updates. The trainer said the main reason mirrors are flared out is that car windows provide far less visibility - they're smaller or at more of an angle and are framed by pillars thick enough to hold airbags. It used to be that you could just turn your head and it was like looking through six feet of square panes in a grill window. Now, you're trying to see around the huge headrest to peek through a padded porthole - but since all that represents a phenomenal leap forward in safety, I'll just put my finger on that toggle and pivot the mirror in or out when I need to, thankyouverymuch.
after 17 years of driving with this setup. i moved to a different country, when getting a license there every instructor told me to set mirrors such that 20% of the mirror shows the car. I started questioning myself after that. then i saw a video that showed basically this and felt vindicated
There are a LOT of people that can't use a car for shit and have no clue how to take care of them. My SIL is a great example as she has totaled like 5 cars and is still in her 20's. She also has never had an oil change in any of her cars nor ever had the tires rotated.
You tilt your head to point the mirrors more to the side. When properly adjusted, you should not be able to see your own car in the mirror, unlike the other comment linked. You move your head yo get to a position where you can see your car, so you can always set the mirror to the same position
Being British and having a right hand drive vehicle I was a bit baffled for a moment on how far I was expected to lean to my left to adjust a mirror. Haha
This is how my Drivers Ed instructor taught it. I can see a car coming up in my rear view mirror, pick it up in the side view just before I lose it there, and then pick it up in my peripheral vision before I lose it in the side mirror. Works great, have done it this way for the 28 or so years I've been driving.
While sitting in your seat normally, adjust your door mirrors so that you can just barely see a sliver of the side of the door. And by sliver, I mean it should cover 1-2% of the mirror at most. Then do the same for the right side.
No need for all that lean to the right, lean to the left, etc.
I learned to drive in my dad's milk truck over 50 years ago, there was a huge bed on the back so you had to use mirrors to back up with. If the mirrors were like the first pic then you could see the things behind you that you are about to hit, if you tried that with the second pic you would not be able to see the area you were backing into.
I still back into parking spaces with mirrors because that's how I learned to do it, so I use the first example. My wife only drives her car so she uses the second example.
There is a place for each example, and doing one or the other isn't necessarily wrong.
I use the second method and back into parking spaces daily. Just have to lean your body/head left and right to properly see your car and objects. Takes a little getting used to, but I have zero issues with it. Trucks, cars, vans
I back up with trucks, vans, and cars using my side mirrors with the second pictures orientation just fine.
Ten years with no incident seems to be a good result
OP is clearly not talking about backing up with mirrors like this, or driving a large vehicle like a milk truck.
Besides that, every new vehicle since 2018 is required to have a backup camera, and most vehicles post 2010 will have one as well. Backing up with a camera + mirrors is much safer than backup with mirrors alone.
Except too many people seem to only use their camera these days and don't use their mirrors and eyes, which is part of the reason you have so many people just reversing out of parks and driveways into the path of people and vehicles
I find myself getting overwhelmed when using a modern car. It's not just the backup camera, it's accompanied by a plethora of additional safety features.
Randomly they'll start screaming at you that the sky is falling, and you'll have to go to page 163 of the users manual to decipher the series of hieroglyphs on the dashboard explaining how you upset it.
Backup cameras are great for seeing below the rear windshield, but otherwise I prefer a basic car that lets me do what I've spent years practicing.
While I'm ranting about safety features; automatic braking is a horrendously stupid idea. We've got some work vehicles that have been hallucinating and hitting the anchors full force, causing drivers to experience whiplash.
I have my mirrors the way they are in the second example and I back in using my mirrors (suv, ‘05). Just lean over and you have a perfect view straight back. You gain the advantage of better view and mirrored backing up.
I’ve legitimately driven other people’s cars and adjusted the mirrors like this and they were shocked the next time they got in and didn’t realize they could see so much.
It’s the way to adjust your mirrors as advised by every motor club and guidebook for automobiles that I’ve ever come across.
And what is ‘mildlyinfuriating’ is the vast number of cars and every single police car I’ve ever seen on the road that haven’t done this proper adjustment.
You can tell they’re wrong because if you can be behind the car ahead and see the driver in their side view mirror, it’s adjusted wrong.
Didn’t know blinding from side mirrors was a thing. When ever the middle one bothers me I just use the little flip button and bam. Just in case u didn’t know about that little button.
I'm amazed at how many drivers have their sideview mirrors pointed directly down the side of their car, and NOT angled away (as described in this article). I can drive behind them and see the driver's face in the sideview mirror! Guaranteed they can't see the care slightly behind them and to the left!
Yes, if set correctly, you can see an approaching car in your rear view mirror, then side mirror, then peripheral vision without any holes in that coverage.
This is the correct way to set mirrors and I will never understand why this is not taught or shown or preset. If you can see your own car you are doing it wrong!
I’ve told several people about this over the years, and ALL of them refused to change where they point their side mirrors. They all want to see their own car in them for some reason I don’t understand.
It sort of makes sense. Being able to see your car in the mirror gives your brain a point of reference to understand the point in space that you are seeing.
My Mini Cooper had curved mirrors on the outer edge. Absolutely no blindspots because I saw the other card still in my mirror and through my side window at the same time. In the US I've always used those little round sticky mirrors.
I really don't understand why those curved mirrors aren't mandatory worldwide! 🤬
If you've been told to try and duplicate your rear view mirror with the side mirrors, that person is dangerously wrong. However, if you set the mirrors like you're supposed to (with the side of the car just barely out of view with your head in the normal position) your view will match the right side diagram. If you follow the procedure in this graphic, you will leave a huge blind spot where a car (or more importantly a motorcyclist) will be hiding at the 5 and 7 o'clock positions. If you're still worried about the 4 and 8 positions, go get some small round spot mirrors (usually less than 5 USD) and put them in the outside corners of the side mirrors.
Another method for doing this is- while parked, sit in your normal driving position. Adjust the rearview mirror to your liking. Now adjust the side mirrors so the inside edge barely shows what is reflected on the closest edge of the rearview. In other words, if you can see a stop sign on the left edge of your rearview mirror, you should see that stop sign on the right edge of your driver's side mirror. The goal is to have the least overlap while still having some.
When backing up you just have to lean towards the side mirror you are trying to check.
Tilted in just enough to see the side walls of the back tires, and down just enough to see the top of an adjacent curb. Back wheels are the pivot point when steering, and likewise to not needing to see behind you twice, filling half your wing vision with sky is a lot of wasted vision. Having that reference point of your steering pivot is super helpful as the vehicle gets longer, doubley so for reversing.
Been preaching this on and off over the years here. I get ripped on by Reddit that "you can't eliminate blind spots" and downvoted into oblivion. Keep spreading the good word!
If set properly, there is no blind spot. From the driver side mirror (it's a side mirror, not a rear view) from the rear view, to the passenger side mirror, it should be one wide panoramic image giving a clear view of everything around the car.
Too many people point their side view mirrors to see behind them for some reason.
I learned from Car Talk on NPR if you press your face against the window of the drivers side, and adjust the mirror so you can barely see the back edge of the car, you'll be set. In the drivers seat, lean as far right as you can to look out the side view and set that one the same.
I know I wasn't taught this, it was just common sense to put the side mirror in the blindspot. Like the second image, the back mirror covers most, and the side mirrors cover the rest of it. Anything last the side mirrors enough that I'd miss in a glance is already at my side so my head never has to turn much. It's dare I say, simple
Teach in high school taught me something similar to this. Just mentioned turning the mirrors out so as soon as a car disappears from one mirror they appear in the next.
this is how I learned it years ago, it is a far superior method once you get used to it. Sadly I have found numerous newer cars that won’t quite allow you to pan the mirror out far enough
I just want to point out that on a lot of modern cars, especially big SUVs or vans, that triangular blue area in the second image is a lot bigger of a blind spot than what they show, and you often can’t see it by checking over your shoulder, because it’s too far back on a long vehicle. It can absolutely hide a motorcycle or bicycle.
Blind spot or tow mirrors are a good investment in safety.
Not like most people here look in their mirrors anyways. I’ve mentioned this method for adjusting mirrors a couple times in threads where people mention blind spots and get downvoted to oblivion and called a maniac and less friendly things.
I have always done this. I also keep my mirrors angled down a bit to see the road as well as tires and turn signals of other cars. Very helpful when parallel parking when I can see the curb. I don't need to see the sky and helps cut down on pickup truck headlights frying my eyeballs.
I’m surprised people don’t know this. I used to drive a semi locally and so I’m so use to having my car side mirrors adjusted like my semi. My right mirror is pointed more downwards but could still see the rear so that way whenever I back up, I could line up when parallel to following a park line marker or the sidewalk that way I don’t hit anything. My left side is for merging on highways and passing by slower cars or trucks.
I figured this out myself in high school after almost changing lanes into another car & never made that mistake again:
1) Set mirrors to just * barely* have the door handle in view
2) lean forward when checking mirror to maximize the wide view
Since doing this i have not done a full turn-around head check in 30 years of driving, even though that's what i was taught to do in driver's ed. The leaning forward part is key
I cant adjust my mirrors out that far in the second pic (im pretty tall with long legs so i sit pretty far back in my car, which impact my angle negatively)
I have them set almost to the max they can turn outwards and i was taught to just about see your own doorhandle in the bottom corner of the mirror.
Worked fine so far for me. But by being so far back in my car i still catch headlights of trucks in my mirrors...
No matter how I set my mirrors, there are still blind spots, especially if the front bumper of the other car is slighly behind my rear door, in an adjacent lane, going the same speed.
I got small ‘stick-on blind spot’ convex mirrors that fit inside a small part of the regular rear view mirrors that help a lot.
I had a friend drive my car once and said I pointed my mirrors too far out 😒. Like that is how you supposed to adjust them. Why you need half the mirror to be just the reflection of the side of your own car?
After 13 years my wife has given up. This is how I set mirrors in any car I drive. She hates it because of the classic “it’s too far out” or “I can’t see the side of the car”. None of my answers work for her, but she finally gave up and has let me set the mirrors for both cars.
But seriously, my MIL you can basically see yourself in the side mirrors they are pointed so far in.
Human factors engineering is no joke. The automobile cockpit is what it is today (and airplane cockpits, and mechanical controls, and GUI design, and and and...) largely because of HF. Ergonomics is a subset of HF.
We criticize bad design like the Tesla touchscreen-only interface for good reason; it's the HF engineers who can measure and quantify the problems. Sometimes aesthetic design is king and the tail wags the dog, and HF engineers are relegated to mitigating the problems they uncovered, but, done right, good HF is good design and saves lives (and money).
I keep the side mirrors so that whatever edge of car sticks out most is only just in view or just out of view. Basically no car in the mirror is the point
If you do this properly it widens your view to where cars should either be visible in your mirror or peripheral vision. Eeliminating the need to turn your head where you are looking backwards and taking your eyes fully off the road in front of you.
It's always baffled me why people insist on taking up half of their rear view with their own fenders. Your car is still there. It's the car next to you that you should be worried about.
Who sets their mirrors like the diagram on the left in the first place? The inside line should travel parallel and longitudinally to the car. This is basic stuff, come on
That’s just normal mirror positioning. The blind spot is where the other half of the car behind starts….
You won’t see the person driving 2 lanes over unless you turn your neck, and they can turn into your lane at any time.
Thank you for posting this. I came across it a while ago and use the technique on my side mirrors, and it really helps! I had forgotten the exact details,so I'm glad to find the information again!
I also do this. Doesn't work with vehicles without visibility through the rear window, but i'm very rarely in that situation.
Also, your rearview mirror, the one inside, is supposed to flip down when lights behind you are blinding you. If you flip them up, you're still faced with the light that shines on your headliner. Flip them down and the 'normal' view is aimed at your rear seats.
I just pull up alongside another car in a parking lot so that the other car is where it would block me if I wanted to change lanes, then adjust the mirror so I can see it clearly. Same for the other side.
Fighting with my wife unsuccessfully for her to do it for 22 years. 😑
If you do it right, the second a car passing you to the left leaves your side mirror field of view it should enter your direct peripheral vision (ie you see it with your own eye without using the mirror).
If there’s a moment where a car passing you on your left is out of your vision in the side mirror and you can’t see it from your natural driving position with your own eye in your peripheral vision then you’re doing it wrong.
My current car (Mazda CX-30) does not allow the mirrors to move this far out, so I'm back to using them as rear views. But my car does have the blind spot detector.
Basically, if a car comes up behind you in the lane next to you, you should first see it in your rearview mirror. As the car continues up alongside you, as it disappears from your rearview mirror it appears in your side mirror. Similarly, as it disappears from your side mirror, it enters your peripheral vision.
This is how my mirrors are but the down side is that I get blinded by the cars in the lanes to the left and right of me. The good news is I am not blinded by the car directly behind me because my center mirror auto dims.
I adjust mine until I can juuust barely see the tail light or corner of my car... otherwise I get disoriented when looking in the side mirrors for some reason
So one thing wrong is that then you cant see your wheels, which is crucial when reversing. Also sensors nowadays have blindspot detection, also some vehicles (like vans) have convex mirrors on the outside to cover more blind spots.
I started doing this a few years ago when I found this tip from a different source. I now get a little anxious in cars that are NOT set up this way, because I feel super conscious of my blindspots now.
Also if there's a car directly behind you with bright headlights, this will keep your side mirrors from blinding you.
But what if the person is driving on my left slightly behind me and going the same fucking speed as me in the left lane with their high beams on? Oh my God just fucking pass me already, or get back in the right lane!
There's this cool thing you can do where you lift your right foot slightly for half a second. It'll force them past you
Alternatively, I can just push my right foot much further down.
That’s incorrect, since the adoption of Side-Facing Adaptive Cruise.
Some people seem to intentionally maintain that position tho. Like if you slow down they slow down too. It's annoying asl especially on a bike
Really?
Yes I always tell people this when they complain about people behind them blinding them in their side mirrors. Its because your mirror isn't adjusted properly.
Your side mirrors are to view out to the side. Not the back. Your rear view mirror already does that
And I always tell people that this is only relevant if you are driving down a road with 1 lane.
If there are two lanes, it doesn't matter where you have your mirrors set because you will catch headlights no matter what.
👏
Those headlights are rated E for Everyone
I thought that was hands
Very true, but this is VERY dependent on that car you drive. Some car models have terrible rear visibility IMO
Wait till they hear about what the little tab on the rearview mirror does.
It makes it so the mirrors are reflecting just behind your head. You set your mirrors so you have to move your head to the side to see down the side of your car. Ideally you view when youd move your head is a straight line from your door handles to the back corner. Grants you the most viewing angles with minimal movement of your head.
Yeah, but if you're on a multi-lane highway and your inside rear-view mirror is auto dimming, it can be jolting when they come up the side.
Yeah but that just means when someone is in the lane next to you they will. That aspect is basically a wash.
Many people also don't know about the night mirror tab on the rearview, just driving around half-blind all night.
I just point my mirrors right to where I can’t see my own car in them
This is the right approach. You don't need to see your own car in them. It's just wasted field of view.
I keep a bit of my car in the mirror for visual orientation. This helps me to put the perspective into context.
This is what I do, it really helps with parking in the city
Same, and to avoid scratching the wheels on the curb!
You could set the mirrors so your car is just out of view and then lean slightly towards the mirror when parking. That way you are getting the extra field of view while driving. The thing you are doing most of the time while using the car, versus something that only helps during the thing you only do a fraction of the time while using the car.
I think this graphic is meant to show that even this approach provides too much redundant view with your rearview mirror and you should point your mirrors outward more. It's visually disorienting at first but I think it is ultimately better once you get used to it.
Ya I was taught to just barely see the protruding handle of the door to add context.
Sorry for being dense, but what about reversing into tight spaces?
Maybe I just can't visualise it, I'll need to try it with my actual car.
It takes practice, honestly. Reading these comments, I realize being raised by a professional truck driver came in, pun intended, clutch. If you're just starting to learn to back up solely with your mirrors -100% possible in any vehicle that's made well, truckers do it every day- go to an auto store near you and get "cheater" mirrors. They're a bit bigger than a silver dollar and attach to your side view mirrors. These small convex mirrors allow you to see your wheels, and the side of your vehicle, without adjusting your sideview mirror itself. After a while, you're going to get a much better sense of the dimensions of your vehicle. Remember- your wheels are never going to move from where they are, and the side of your car is never going to shrink or lengthen. You'll also start to pick up on other visual ques- how bright are your tail lights against the thing you're backing up to? Don't depend on it, but it is something you can see sometimes. Always keep in mind the general shape of the back of your vehicle and if you have any attachments like a trailer hitch. I also recommend riding in the back of your own car for a little bit if possible. It gives you another perspective, adding depth to your visualization
Lean over to see more of your own car in the mirror.
It’s useful for parking in reverse and close to a curb
Yeah same. I adjust and as soon as I see a part of the car I stop and move back out a little.
I set it to where the average car around me appears in my side view just before it vanishes from my rear.
i thought everyone did this. TIL not everyone does?
I rent cars often and without fail, the side mirrors are half angled at the car body. Doesn't matter if the seating suggests it was a tall or short person who was previously driving.
IIRC the point of keeping your car in the view is to provide reference for where other cars are to your car. So you know if they're too close to merge in front of.
Do people legitimately not know this? It’s Drivers Ed 101
People don't get educated nowadays
Driver's Ed never taught me this, nor did my parents or anyone else. Learned it online somewhere (probably reddit tbh) a couple years after I started driving.
Here in Germany, it is mandatory to turn the neck all the time, because apparently they don't know about fixing the blind spot like in the image.
Same in Canada, I was never taught to adjust my mirrors like this but I was taught to shoulder check every single time
There are always blind spots, a motorcycle can fit into one easily
You're not going to catch any cyclist without turning your head.
Same in the USA. It's a lot easier for the instructor/road tester to see that you're checking blind spots if you turn your whole head instead of just looking with your eyes
Yeah and now they put little blind spot alert lights on the side mirrors that light up when a car is there. Because 99% of drivers don't set their mirrors correct. If you set them correct you would see the car in your mirror - no need for a light! LOL
Same in South Africa!
The US (at least California) requires this too. It is how failed my first driving test. I failed to look over my shoulder when changing lanes.
My kids all had behind-the-wheel training in high school, and none of the instructors ever taught them to adjust their mirrors this way.
I would put "instructors" into air quotes here then. Getting a license here in Germany is stupid expensive ($2.5-3k easily these days, often more), takes at least two weeks, but at least they do teach you all the necessary things.
Kinda crazy to me that some of my american friends told me "Oh, I drove around the block twice, was asked if I know where my turn signal stock is and then got my license. Cost me 30 minutes and $25.. yikes.
I had driver's education in high school in the USA in the 1990's and we were taught exactly this.
That's because this is an outdated method of adjusting your mirrors that hasn't been used in like 20 years.
Students are taught to adjust mirrors until they they can just barely see the side of the door in them, which lines the mirrors exactly where they are in your picture.
Your method is overly complicated and complex.
The side of your own car isn't going to hit you. If you can see any of your own car in the side view mirror then that mirror is positioned incorrectly. Mirrors should be turned outward another 15-20 degrees from the point you mention, to cover blind spots in adjacent lanes.
Drivers Ed taught me to just turn my head, but this seems cool, I'll give it a try (and still turn my head out of habit)
This is one of my particular driving pet peeves, I know so many people who say they need to be able to see the outside of their car in their side rear view mirrors because it makes them “feel safer.”
I like to have the car just barely visible so I can gauge distances from the wheels. Tires almost rubber the curve when I parallel park.
Same, I'm not sure how well you could park with mirrors like that unless you have some camera set up
My 2009 Acura had a right-side mirror that would automatically angle in and down (for parallel parking) when I shifted into reverse.
yeah I am pretty sure the rest of the car is there even if I can't see it. I got object permanence when I was like two.
I was 20 something when I learned this in a defensive driving course.
When I'm driving directly behind people, I can usually see their face in both side mirrors. I wasn't taught this in drivers ed, but it doesn't take a genius to understand you shouldn't have 3 mirrors aimed at the same exact spot.
First time I've ever seen this.
You would be very very surprised at how many car people (like diehard car people) don’t know this.
They didn't teach this in my driver's ed. It was something I learned on my own.
I have always angled mine ALL THE WAY out and a little bit down for decades. It drives me crazy when I go to drive a different vehicle and they’ve got half the door taking up the mirror. Like, why do you need to see your own door? That’s not what is going to crash into you
I learned this from Car Talk. My drivers ed teacher and others never mentioned it that I remember.
I used to do then then stopped as I got the convex mirror
It's common sense. I don't understand why or how you could do it significantly different from this.
Driver's Ed told me to keep the side of my car in the sideview mirror for reference
it was not part of driver's ed in 1986 when I took it
I was not taught this in Driver's Ed
Nobody I know knows this and everyone I explain it to thinks I'm crazy.
I have borrowed people's cars, set the mirrors like this, and had them complain the next time I saw them after returning it. Same for company cars…people bitch that I leave the mirrors “fucked up”
It is now. When I learned to drive ('70s), the mirrors were set closer in (not quite as tight as in the illustration). After a minor stroke, I had to take a kind of driver's retraining/retesting, and this was one of the updates. The trainer said the main reason mirrors are flared out is that car windows provide far less visibility - they're smaller or at more of an angle and are framed by pillars thick enough to hold airbags. It used to be that you could just turn your head and it was like looking through six feet of square panes in a grill window. Now, you're trying to see around the huge headrest to peek through a padded porthole - but since all that represents a phenomenal leap forward in safety, I'll just put my finger on that toggle and pivot the mirror in or out when I need to, thankyouverymuch.
after 17 years of driving with this setup. i moved to a different country, when getting a license there every instructor told me to set mirrors such that 20% of the mirror shows the car. I started questioning myself after that. then i saw a video that showed basically this and felt vindicated
There are a LOT of people that can't use a car for shit and have no clue how to take care of them. My SIL is a great example as she has totaled like 5 cars and is still in her 20's. She also has never had an oil change in any of her cars nor ever had the tires rotated.
Right? And if they don’t do this, then what the hell do they think the mirrors are for?
Driver's Ed taught me to adjust my mirrors to the edge of the rear window
Don't know where it originated, but I didn't learn of this until like a decade ago in my 30s.
AFAIK it's referred to as the Blindzone Glare Elimination mirror method and recommended by NHTSA and SAE.
More detail here: blindzoneglaremirrormethod.pdf https://share.google/P7h2Upb3bJj6wNtYe
I don‘t understand why you would tilt your head to the side instead of just rotating the mirror from the point where you‘re sitting upright?
https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/1pifc2y/comment/nt63p2j/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
You tilt your head to point the mirrors more to the side. When properly adjusted, you should not be able to see your own car in the mirror, unlike the other comment linked. You move your head yo get to a position where you can see your car, so you can always set the mirror to the same position
Being British and having a right hand drive vehicle I was a bit baffled for a moment on how far I was expected to lean to my left to adjust a mirror. Haha
This is how my Drivers Ed instructor taught it. I can see a car coming up in my rear view mirror, pick it up in the side view just before I lose it there, and then pick it up in my peripheral vision before I lose it in the side mirror. Works great, have done it this way for the 28 or so years I've been driving.
EXACTLY how I do it as well. Mostly eliminates having to turn your head to look.
The easier way to explain this and how to do it:
While sitting in your seat normally, adjust your door mirrors so that you can just barely see a sliver of the side of the door. And by sliver, I mean it should cover 1-2% of the mirror at most. Then do the same for the right side.
No need for all that lean to the right, lean to the left, etc.
This way gives you significantly less wide field of vision than what is noted by OP. I dont know which one is better.
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15131074/how-to-adjust-your-mirrors-to-avoid-blind-spots/ Car and driver seems to suggest it can take some getting used to having mirrors so far wide like OP's method.
The method linked here by Car and Driver is better than OPs method.
While parked, turn your side mirrors out until it barely overlaps with the rearview mirror. You now have the largest uninterrupted view possible.
The setup works best when you see none of your own car in the side mirrors.
Yeah you shouldn’t see any of your car in your side mirrors.
This is the way I learned.
Graphic is kind of funny in referring to “fenders”. Cars haven’t had those in ages.
??? What do you call the panel between the front bumper and driver door?
I learned to drive in my dad's milk truck over 50 years ago, there was a huge bed on the back so you had to use mirrors to back up with. If the mirrors were like the first pic then you could see the things behind you that you are about to hit, if you tried that with the second pic you would not be able to see the area you were backing into.
I still back into parking spaces with mirrors because that's how I learned to do it, so I use the first example. My wife only drives her car so she uses the second example.
There is a place for each example, and doing one or the other isn't necessarily wrong.
I use the second method and back into parking spaces daily. Just have to lean your body/head left and right to properly see your car and objects. Takes a little getting used to, but I have zero issues with it. Trucks, cars, vans
Before I got a backup cam, I reverse parked every single day using setup #2. Are you also driving a milk truck?
I back up with trucks, vans, and cars using my side mirrors with the second pictures orientation just fine.
Ten years with no incident seems to be a good result
OP is clearly not talking about backing up with mirrors like this, or driving a large vehicle like a milk truck.
Besides that, every new vehicle since 2018 is required to have a backup camera, and most vehicles post 2010 will have one as well. Backing up with a camera + mirrors is much safer than backup with mirrors alone.
Except too many people seem to only use their camera these days and don't use their mirrors and eyes, which is part of the reason you have so many people just reversing out of parks and driveways into the path of people and vehicles
Your username is a perfect description for me.
I find myself getting overwhelmed when using a modern car. It's not just the backup camera, it's accompanied by a plethora of additional safety features.
Randomly they'll start screaming at you that the sky is falling, and you'll have to go to page 163 of the users manual to decipher the series of hieroglyphs on the dashboard explaining how you upset it.
Backup cameras are great for seeing below the rear windshield, but otherwise I prefer a basic car that lets me do what I've spent years practicing.
While I'm ranting about safety features; automatic braking is a horrendously stupid idea. We've got some work vehicles that have been hallucinating and hitting the anchors full force, causing drivers to experience whiplash.
I have my mirrors the way they are in the second example and I back in using my mirrors (suv, ‘05). Just lean over and you have a perfect view straight back. You gain the advantage of better view and mirrored backing up.
I’ve legitimately driven other people’s cars and adjusted the mirrors like this and they were shocked the next time they got in and didn’t realize they could see so much.
And we drive on the same roads as these people.
Wait, people do something different than this?
I find it incomprehensible that people don't do this??!
In image 1, the side mirrors are full of your own car. How the fuck is that helping you? Who wants to check their fender on the move?
Anyone setting their mirrors to image 1 should retake their driving test.
It’s the way to adjust your mirrors as advised by every motor club and guidebook for automobiles that I’ve ever come across.
And what is ‘mildlyinfuriating’ is the vast number of cars and every single police car I’ve ever seen on the road that haven’t done this proper adjustment.
You can tell they’re wrong because if you can be behind the car ahead and see the driver in their side view mirror, it’s adjusted wrong.
Didn’t know blinding from side mirrors was a thing. When ever the middle one bothers me I just use the little flip button and bam. Just in case u didn’t know about that little button.
I know for a fact most drivers DO NOT do this. People change lanes far too unsafely.
Simply put, if you see your own car in your side mirrors, they aren’t set right!
I'm amazed at how many drivers have their sideview mirrors pointed directly down the side of their car, and NOT angled away (as described in this article). I can drive behind them and see the driver's face in the sideview mirror! Guaranteed they can't see the care slightly behind them and to the left!
Yes, if set correctly, you can see an approaching car in your rear view mirror, then side mirror, then peripheral vision without any holes in that coverage.
This is the correct way to set mirrors and I will never understand why this is not taught or shown or preset. If you can see your own car you are doing it wrong!
I’ve told several people about this over the years, and ALL of them refused to change where they point their side mirrors. They all want to see their own car in them for some reason I don’t understand.
It sort of makes sense. Being able to see your car in the mirror gives your brain a point of reference to understand the point in space that you are seeing.
Then just leave a sliver of the body in view. Not 30%of it
I'm giving you an explanation, not an excuse. Logic doesn't factor here.
But yes, personally I generally aim for the bare minimum sliver of reference, some people need more.
what makes you think they're doing 30% instead of a sliver?
To this day... i physically look over my shoulder
I always just assumed this was how you were supposed to adjust your mirrors. Why would you need to see your own car in the reflection?
My Mini Cooper had curved mirrors on the outer edge. Absolutely no blindspots because I saw the other card still in my mirror and through my side window at the same time. In the US I've always used those little round sticky mirrors.
I really don't understand why those curved mirrors aren't mandatory worldwide! 🤬
Funny, I never read anything, but that's already how I adjust my mirrors. I've had so many arguments about it too.
It is crazy to me that this would need to be explained to people that are legally allowed to drive multi tonne death machines
If you've been told to try and duplicate your rear view mirror with the side mirrors, that person is dangerously wrong. However, if you set the mirrors like you're supposed to (with the side of the car just barely out of view with your head in the normal position) your view will match the right side diagram. If you follow the procedure in this graphic, you will leave a huge blind spot where a car (or more importantly a motorcyclist) will be hiding at the 5 and 7 o'clock positions. If you're still worried about the 4 and 8 positions, go get some small round spot mirrors (usually less than 5 USD) and put them in the outside corners of the side mirrors.
Another method for doing this is- while parked, sit in your normal driving position. Adjust the rearview mirror to your liking. Now adjust the side mirrors so the inside edge barely shows what is reflected on the closest edge of the rearview. In other words, if you can see a stop sign on the left edge of your rearview mirror, you should see that stop sign on the right edge of your driver's side mirror. The goal is to have the least overlap while still having some.
When backing up you just have to lean towards the side mirror you are trying to check.
this is the way. highly recommended.
Damn. That’s 100% from an old 90’s Popular Mechanics mag before it got all stupid
Good eye. I don’t recall the specific issue, but it was from 1996.
Tilted in just enough to see the side walls of the back tires, and down just enough to see the top of an adjacent curb. Back wheels are the pivot point when steering, and likewise to not needing to see behind you twice, filling half your wing vision with sky is a lot of wasted vision. Having that reference point of your steering pivot is super helpful as the vehicle gets longer, doubley so for reversing.
This is how they taught me to do it in driver’s ed
Isn't that how you're SUPPOSED to angle them in the first place
What i do is i adjust my mirror so that the door handle is at bottom left/right corner
Wow we are getting dumber.
Been preaching this on and off over the years here. I get ripped on by Reddit that "you can't eliminate blind spots" and downvoted into oblivion. Keep spreading the good word!
Anyone tried it yet?
It’s the only way. I have zero blind spots when mirrors are orientated this way.
I’ve been doing this since the beginning, though the advice I got was to move it so the side is just out of view in normal position.
I've never driven any other way
If set properly, there is no blind spot. From the driver side mirror (it's a side mirror, not a rear view) from the rear view, to the passenger side mirror, it should be one wide panoramic image giving a clear view of everything around the car.
Too many people point their side view mirrors to see behind them for some reason.
I learned from Car Talk on NPR if you press your face against the window of the drivers side, and adjust the mirror so you can barely see the back edge of the car, you'll be set. In the drivers seat, lean as far right as you can to look out the side view and set that one the same.
Example: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTbku8oxEqYLzdOAPP_G6ETTfir6MgkBcLbRg&s
I need to be able to see my car in my side mirror at least a little or else i have no reference for what im looking at.
If you can see any part of your own vehicle in your side view mirrors, you haven’t got them out enough.
Another thing most car drivers don't know: Your head is rotatable.
Edit: Said drivers found my comment.
This is how I orientate my side view mirrors. It works like a charm…no blind spots.
I've used this method for so long now and it's for real the only way that mirrors should be adjusted.
I know I wasn't taught this, it was just common sense to put the side mirror in the blindspot. Like the second image, the back mirror covers most, and the side mirrors cover the rest of it. Anything last the side mirrors enough that I'd miss in a glance is already at my side so my head never has to turn much. It's dare I say, simple
I just use blind spot mirrors, they are a few bucks and easy to install.
Seems like sticking a couple wide angle mirrors on your side mirrors would be the best of both worlds.
Track racer setting 👍
This is the way the NYPD trains you to put your mirror.
Teach in high school taught me something similar to this. Just mentioned turning the mirrors out so as soon as a car disappears from one mirror they appear in the next.
I thought everyone did this and it was standard.
this is how I learned it years ago, it is a far superior method once you get used to it. Sadly I have found numerous newer cars that won’t quite allow you to pan the mirror out far enough
Is this not taught in every basic driving school theory course?
I just want to point out that on a lot of modern cars, especially big SUVs or vans, that triangular blue area in the second image is a lot bigger of a blind spot than what they show, and you often can’t see it by checking over your shoulder, because it’s too far back on a long vehicle. It can absolutely hide a motorcycle or bicycle.
Blind spot or tow mirrors are a good investment in safety.
Not like most people here look in their mirrors anyways. I’ve mentioned this method for adjusting mirrors a couple times in threads where people mention blind spots and get downvoted to oblivion and called a maniac and less friendly things.
I have always done this. I also keep my mirrors angled down a bit to see the road as well as tires and turn signals of other cars. Very helpful when parallel parking when I can see the curb. I don't need to see the sky and helps cut down on pickup truck headlights frying my eyeballs.
I’m surprised people don’t know this. I used to drive a semi locally and so I’m so use to having my car side mirrors adjusted like my semi. My right mirror is pointed more downwards but could still see the rear so that way whenever I back up, I could line up when parallel to following a park line marker or the sidewalk that way I don’t hit anything. My left side is for merging on highways and passing by slower cars or trucks.
I figured this out myself in high school after almost changing lanes into another car & never made that mistake again:
1) Set mirrors to just * barely* have the door handle in view 2) lean forward when checking mirror to maximize the wide view
Since doing this i have not done a full turn-around head check in 30 years of driving, even though that's what i was taught to do in driver's ed. The leaning forward part is key
Learned this from Click & Clack.
Lurking here. Thanks.
I cant adjust my mirrors out that far in the second pic (im pretty tall with long legs so i sit pretty far back in my car, which impact my angle negatively)
I have them set almost to the max they can turn outwards and i was taught to just about see your own doorhandle in the bottom corner of the mirror.
Worked fine so far for me. But by being so far back in my car i still catch headlights of trucks in my mirrors...
I’ve been doing this since drivers Ed. The amount of cars I see have mirrors looking at the side of their own car is baffling.
No matter how I set my mirrors, there are still blind spots, especially if the front bumper of the other car is slighly behind my rear door, in an adjacent lane, going the same speed.
I got small ‘stick-on blind spot’ convex mirrors that fit inside a small part of the regular rear view mirrors that help a lot.
I always set my side mirrors so that you can just see both door handles, with the front door handles aligned to the bottom corner of the mirrors.
This gives the best balance of my rear & the car's immediate surroundings
This is such a peeve for me! Why does everyone insist on setting the side mirrors to have an unobstructed view of the outside door handles?
I had a friend drive my car once and said I pointed my mirrors too far out 😒. Like that is how you supposed to adjust them. Why you need half the mirror to be just the reflection of the side of your own car?
After 13 years my wife has given up. This is how I set mirrors in any car I drive. She hates it because of the classic “it’s too far out” or “I can’t see the side of the car”. None of my answers work for her, but she finally gave up and has let me set the mirrors for both cars.
But seriously, my MIL you can basically see yourself in the side mirrors they are pointed so far in.
I have never understood why people set them to see the side of their own car. That is always in the same place. Nothing to see there.
Why would you want to do this when you can fill half of your mirror with the side of your car?????
Human factors engineering is no joke. The automobile cockpit is what it is today (and airplane cockpits, and mechanical controls, and GUI design, and and and...) largely because of HF. Ergonomics is a subset of HF.
We criticize bad design like the Tesla touchscreen-only interface for good reason; it's the HF engineers who can measure and quantify the problems. Sometimes aesthetic design is king and the tail wags the dog, and HF engineers are relegated to mitigating the problems they uncovered, but, done right, good HF is good design and saves lives (and money).
Or you can get those mirror extension that pushes the mirrors out by 2 feet. /s
I keep the side mirrors so that whatever edge of car sticks out most is only just in view or just out of view. Basically no car in the mirror is the point
If you do this properly it widens your view to where cars should either be visible in your mirror or peripheral vision. Eeliminating the need to turn your head where you are looking backwards and taking your eyes fully off the road in front of you.
no shit
Same here. This is the way. People want to doubt me till they try it. Been doing it for 20 ish years as well.
Quick pro tip, lean forward to check your mirrors before changing lanes.
So the 1st person complains that they can't do x and the 2nd person tells tem to do x!
And they say that today's A.I. can't write convincingly.
Click and Clack recommend the same thing and I’ve done it for years including in endurance racing.
I'd like to jump on this and add a +1, it really does improve visibility. I will never go back to the old way.
It's always baffled me why people insist on taking up half of their rear view with their own fenders. Your car is still there. It's the car next to you that you should be worried about.
There's still blind spots but they're smaller.
Who sets their mirrors like the diagram on the left in the first place? The inside line should travel parallel and longitudinally to the car. This is basic stuff, come on
This parking guide is a lifesaver—finally, no more awkward backing up!
That’s just normal mirror positioning. The blind spot is where the other half of the car behind starts…. You won’t see the person driving 2 lanes over unless you turn your neck, and they can turn into your lane at any time.
This. Everyone seems to use their side view mirrors as secondary rear view mirrors.
Thank you for posting this. I came across it a while ago and use the technique on my side mirrors, and it really helps! I had forgotten the exact details,so I'm glad to find the information again!
This looks like an old Popular Mechanics/Popular Science mag article.
I also do this. Doesn't work with vehicles without visibility through the rear window, but i'm very rarely in that situation.
Also, your rearview mirror, the one inside, is supposed to flip down when lights behind you are blinding you. If you flip them up, you're still faced with the light that shines on your headliner. Flip them down and the 'normal' view is aimed at your rear seats.
Just lean forward to check your blind spot. Done.
I just felt like it was intuitive to set your side mirrors away from the sides of your car and not see half your car in them, but I guess not?
I just pull up alongside another car in a parking lot so that the other car is where it would block me if I wanted to change lanes, then adjust the mirror so I can see it clearly. Same for the other side.
I adjust my side mirrors to aim outward so I can see everything that my rear view can’t. It works wonders.00
This is the one thing I took from drivers ed and still use to this day
Side mirrors should be adjusted to see a sliver of the side of the car.
Been doing this for 30 years.
Fighting with my wife unsuccessfully for her to do it for 22 years. 😑
If you do it right, the second a car passing you to the left leaves your side mirror field of view it should enter your direct peripheral vision (ie you see it with your own eye without using the mirror).
If there’s a moment where a car passing you on your left is out of your vision in the side mirror and you can’t see it from your natural driving position with your own eye in your peripheral vision then you’re doing it wrong.
My current car (Mazda CX-30) does not allow the mirrors to move this far out, so I'm back to using them as rear views. But my car does have the blind spot detector.
Basically, if a car comes up behind you in the lane next to you, you should first see it in your rearview mirror. As the car continues up alongside you, as it disappears from your rearview mirror it appears in your side mirror. Similarly, as it disappears from your side mirror, it enters your peripheral vision.
This is how my mirrors are but the down side is that I get blinded by the cars in the lanes to the left and right of me. The good news is I am not blinded by the car directly behind me because my center mirror auto dims.
I adjust mine until I can juuust barely see the tail light or corner of my car... otherwise I get disoriented when looking in the side mirrors for some reason
Click & Clack had always recommended aligning your mirrors like this. I've been doing it this way for 35(?) years.
Or....silly thing they actually use to teach...look over to check your blinds pot. Funny how a quick glance can prevent an accident.
So one thing wrong is that then you cant see your wheels, which is crucial when reversing. Also sensors nowadays have blindspot detection, also some vehicles (like vans) have convex mirrors on the outside to cover more blind spots.
I started doing this a few years ago when I found this tip from a different source. I now get a little anxious in cars that are NOT set up this way, because I feel super conscious of my blindspots now.