Phoenixmgs said:
KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime said:
Yeah, the using wing mirrors to eliminate blind spots is a myth, an extremely dangerous myth at that too.
Please cite your source on mirrors not eliminating blindspots because there's several papers and articles stating you can eliminate blindspots with mirrors as they are specifically engineered to do just that. Ford's chief safety engineer stated that Ford's Blind Spot Information System wouldn't be needed if people properly set their mirrors. I know from over 10 years of using mirrors only that I have no blindspots on my car. I'm pretty sure it would be a statistical impossibility if I do indeed have a blindspot and have not hit anyone in over 10 years along with the very high rate at which I change lanes.
I know from personal experience in amateur drift and rally racing that there is no such thing as a mirror configuration that eliminates blind spots, in fact, attempting to do so exacerbates the blind spots. This also applies to the experience of professional drift and rally drivers. One of the easiest ways to pass another racer is to stick to the blind-spot of the person you're passing in a turn, because they won't be prepared for the pass.
Wing mirrors are not engineered to, nor are they designed to cover the blind-spot. They're designed to give you a view of adjcent traffic lanes,
behind your vehicle. If you're using them to cover the blind spot, you're invariably and in most places
illegally cutting off cars when you change lanes. Because a legal lane change almost everywhere is where you can see where the front tires of the vehicle you're passing, in your center rear view mirror. Doing that means you're merging into a lane with at least a full car length between you and the car behind you, in the lane you want to be in.
There is only one kind of mirror that
mostly eliminates the blind-spot. Those are convex disc mirrors, that are either placed far enough foreword on the front quarter panels of a vehicle, or the out edge of the wing mirror. They provide a huge field of view alongside your vehicle, generally covering most of the side. Wing mirrors as a safety device are not designed to do this, convex mirrors are. If you're using your wing mirror in the place of a convex mirror. Also misusing wing mirrors in this fashion is against defensive driving, which puts you dangerously close to driving recklessly, because you're relying on everyone else's defensive driving skills.
Now I'm not going google diving to do your research for you, the burden of proof is on you. I know from experience both in my own driving and in the driving of others, that wing mirrors do not make up for checking your blind-spot, no matter how you set them. It's very dangerous to have wing mirrors set in any way that conflicts with them giving you a full view of the adjacent traffic lanes
behind your vehicle. They're designed to show you traffic that is approaching, not that has already approached, same as the review mirror. Just because you've been very lucky misusing your wing mirrors, doesn't mean squat, you can find anecdotes for people who have been hit by speeding semi-tucks and managed to escape almost totally unscathed. The fact is, you've developed a habit that is against defensive driving, statistically speaking this puts you in extreme danger. That's beside the fact that no wing mirror can effectively compensate for both the blind-spot generated by mirrors, nor the blind-spot naturally made in the human eye by the optic nerve. A convex mirror can do this job, when properly placed, a wing mirror cannot.
Edit: My dad is a retired school bus driver too, and I've spent 14 years driving and observing drivers in many situations. My dad was specifically taught that the convex mirror is the only mirror that can compensate for the blind spot of a wing mirror, in his Class B commercial driving classes. Those are also the only way to cover the blind spots in long vehicles, like city buses, school buses, single body commercial trucks and vans, and semi-trucks with trailers.