How to adjust the wing mirror

scotsbob

You need to adjust door mirrors so that on a dual carriageway/motorway an overtaking vehicle is never in a blindspot. You should see it in your mirror until the point when you can see it through your window.

GwylimT

As you are a learner ideally you need to be able to see the back of your vehicle, until you know how much room you have etc then you need this position, especially as you may struggle to make certain maneuvers while moving your head around, until you are a little more experienced.

My passenger side mirror is adjusted so I can see the carriageway behind/beside me and so I can see part of my car, this means I generally don't need to move them when parking. My driver side is angled more harshly, I can see some of my car and the carriage way, so when on motorways etc my view before I then turn to check my blind spot is quite good.

DaveF327

Apologies for the picture quality; my scanner's on its way out.

A picture speaks a thousand words:



I knew my old teaching aids would come out of retirement someday

Link to full size here: http://oi57.tinypic.com/demi37.jpg

ohreally

I adjust mine so the door handle is just visable in the lower left corner of the mirror.

Ultrasonic

ohreally wrote: »

I adjust mine so the door handle is just visable in the lower left corner of the mirror.

Which door handle and which mirror?

ic

As per the picture above - you need the reference point of the car to be able to understand what you're seeing and how far or close it is to your car. When changing lanes you should still always glance over your shoulder to minimise problems with the blind spots.

Ectophile

When I was learning to drive, I was a bit sneaky and angled the passenger-side mirror downwards so that I could see the edge of the car and the back wheel. It makes parking and reversing round corners much easier - because you can see if you're about to hit the kerb

I've continued to do that ever since, regardless of what any driving manuals tell me.

Ultrasonic

Ectophile wrote: »

When I was learning to drive, I was a bit sneaky and angled the passenger-side mirror downwards so that I could see the edge of the car and the back wheel. It makes parking and reversing round corners much easier - because you can see if you're about to hit the kerb.

I've continued to do that ever since, regardless of what any driving manuals tell me.

For the benefit of the OP, the huge downside of this approach is that you can't see vehicles approaching on your nearside from as far back, and so is categorically NOT the safest approach.

I do though tilt the electric mirrors down on my car if parking on a street, but return them to their normal position afterwards.

zagfles

Ultrasonic wrote: »

Strange video, why would you want to adjust the mirror to what you can see with your head in an abnormal position?

Because then you eliminate (or at least vastly reduce) the blind spot when your head's in the normal position.

zagfles

ic wrote: »

As per the picture above - you need the reference point of the car to be able to understand what you're seeing and how far or close it is to your car. When changing lanes you should still always glance over your shoulder to minimise problems with the blind spots.

If your mirrors are adjusted as per the video in the OP you shouldn't have a blind spot. And anything you see in the side mirrors you know is very close. There's no point the side mirrors duplicating what you see in the rear view mirror.

If you're on a motorway, check that when a car or motorbike overtakes you, you can always see it, first in the rear view mirror, then in the right side mirror, then in your peripheral vision while looking at the side mirror. There should be no point at all where you can't see it.

Same when you're overtaking, the other way round, ie you can see the car ahead, then in your peripheral vision when looking at the left side mirror, then in the left side mirror, then in the rear view mirror.

As seen in a couple of recent threads, looking over your shoulder can cause accidents as you're not looking ahead. Adjust your mirrors properly and you don't need to look over your shoulder (I never do and I've driven hundreds of thousands of miles on motorways).