Adjusting Your Side View Mirrors to Eliminate Blind Spots
Whenever you get in the car, you need to change lanes or merge into traffic. It’s inevitable. You rely heavily on your mirrors to let you know where the traffic stands. If you have blind spots, these routine maneuvers can be extremely dangerous. We’re going to tell you just how to adjust your mirrors so that there are no blind spots, and you won’t have to turn your head to see if you’re safe to merge.
We all know what a blind spot is. It’s an area in which a vehicle cannot be seen from a rear view or side view mirrors or even in the driver’s peripheral vision. The Society of Automotive Engineers came up with a system of setting your mirrors to eliminate blind spots completely, and many drivers swear by it. By using this setting, you will no longer have to turn your head to check traffic. This allows you to keep the traffic in front of your vehicle in your peripheral vision. Also, headlight glare from trailing cars in your side mirrors is almost completely eliminated. And, it only takes a short glance to your rear view and side view mirrors to check the traffic around you.
First, set your side mirrors. To set your driver’s side mirror, lean to the left and place your head up against the window. Adjust the mirror until you can barely see the driver’s side of your vehicle. Then, move your head as close to the center of your vehicle as possible, and set your passenger side mirror the same way—so that you can barely see the passenger side of your vehicle in the mirror. Then, of course, adjust your rear view mirror to see as much out the back window as you can. To check if you have eliminated your blind spots, watch as a car passes you in traffic. You should be able to see the car in your side view mirror before it leaves your rear view mirror. If it worked, congratulations—you have eliminated your blind spots! Just remember that other drivers may not know of this method, and try to stay out of their blind spots as much as possible.