Recently a reader of menshealth.com asked a great question: How can I eliminate my car's blind spot? We urge people to drive more safely on the roads, so this was an excellent question to follow. Here's the response, enjoy!
You need to reflect on the problem. "Most drivers position their side mirrors at an angle that's too narrow and adds only about 4 feet of vision on each side," says Michael Flannagan, Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute who studies vision-improvement systems for drivers. However, if you adjust your mirrors using these directions, popularized by a math whiz at the Society of Automotive Engineers and approved by Flannagan, you can banish the blind spot in any car you drive.
Driver's Side Mirror
Rest the side of your head against the driver's side window. Adjust the mirror so you can just barely see the side of your car.
Rearview Mirror
Sit up straight with your head positioned as it will be while you're driving. Adjust the mirror so you can see out of the entire rear window.
Passenger-Side Mirror
Lean toward the center of the car. Set the mirror so you can see only the very edge of your car.
Test It
"Drive in the right lane of a multi-lane highway," says Flannagan. "Look in the left hand mirror and watch as a car approaches you. As it passes, its image should disappear off the outer edge of the mirror just as it enters your peripheral vision." With typical mirror adjustments, he says, the car disappears before it enters your peripheral vision - into the blind spot. It'll probably take you several drives to become comfortable with this new configuration.
Now don't you see this as the type of information you'll share with all of your friends and loved ones? Hey, at least it will stick in your mind and come up as a curious trivia topic in the future!
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