Does anyone else have a blind spot...

I haven't noticed any really significant blind spots but that's probably because I have my outside mirrors pretty far out. See http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/mirrors for a good way to set your mirrors to minimize blind spots. It might take awhile to get use to it though.

 

And, it has a lot to do with the vehicle you came from...like you said. You've learned a habit based on the design of another car. Now you have to change. In another couple of months, you won't even notice it

Every car has a blind spot - you are were just used to it - just as every person has one. The human eye has a blind spot in its field of vision. Its on the point of the retina where the optic nerve leads back into the brain. The retina has no light-sensitive rods or cones at this point, and so a small object in the field of vision's blind spot becomes invisible.

My wife and I always buy the little tiny bubble mirrors to stick on the outside mirrors. That helps us a lot.

 

I have also adopted this way of setting my mirrors - and it works great! I started doing it before I got the Prius, so I haven't had any problems with blind spots. Once you think about it, it makes sense, though. The middle mirror is the rear view mirror - for things directly behind you and the side mirrors are just that! I highly recommend you try this out - it will feel weird at first. I found that I was using my side mirrors as rear view mirrors and it took a while to adjust my habits.

 

My wife sets the side mirrors so that I can see the side of the car when I get in! It drives me crazy! :blink:
I have always set the side mirrors so that, just as the front of a car in the lane next to me leaves the field of vision of the REAR view mirror, it comes into view in the side mirror. As the car next to me leaves the side mirror, I can see it next to me. It pretty much covers the whole area.
I still check by glancing over before I move over, but the mirrors cover a large portion of the rear 180 degrees.
(I think that's what they were talking about in cartalk, but it wasn't very detailed.)

 

I am vertically challenged and have noticed a blind spot. I bought blind spot mirrors for both side mirrors. Problem solved.

 

The blind spot is there on any car. The best way as stated is to set your side mirrors for the blind spot. Use the center mirror for rearward vision. For added security it doesn't hurt to glance left or right over your shoulder also. Remember to signal first, then change lanes. In California the freeway is packed with people passing left and right and going 85MPH. Defensive driving is a must here.

 

I have the same problem - A couple of near misses after 3 months of driving, and always the right rear. I drove Camrys for the last 12 years, and besides the worse visibility in the Prius, I think my Camry scanning pattern doesn't work as well with the new car. Just need to break the old habits and get used to the new picture in the Prius mirrors.

 

As "cwerdna" suggested go to http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/mirrors . This explains very nicely how to set your mirrors to have virtually no blind spots. It does take getting use to but once you do it is absolutely wonderful. You just have to remember to reset the mirrors when somebody else drives the car and sets the mirors the old and improper way.

 

Defensive Driving Courses in Texas teach the "no blind spot" method for setting exterior rearview mirrors. It does indeed take a little while to become accustomed to the change from the "old" way but is well worth the effort.

Simple: Exterior left mirror (driver's side): Lean your head against the driver side window and adjust the mirror so you can just see the rear edge of your car - makes the adjoining lane left of you clearly visible (and any traffic therein).

Exterior right mirror: Lean your head over the center console and adjust the right mirror the same way to make the adjoining right lane visible.

 

I bought little rectangular stickon mirrors that have a slant to them from Bimart. They are about 1 inch X 2 Inches and rectangular.. the round bubble mirrors take up too much space on the mirror.. Why eat up space to look at the sky and the ground?"

I put them on the lower inside corner of each mirror.

They work great.

 

Good idea, properly aligning the side windows.

In drivers' ed - too many decades ago, don't know if they teach this skill any more - we students were told to be aware of what traffic was doing in back of the car as well as up ahead. Good drivers keep track of what the cars in back are doing, by glancing in the rear view mirror at regular intervals. I'm typically aware of "the red car in the right lane coming up too fast, I bet he's gonna come up on the bumper of the car I just passed and then flit in back of me" and "the white van that just got on the freeway, in front of the motorcyclist".

Before signalling a lane change to the right, I can look up and check where those vehicles are and decide if it's clear for me to initiate a maneuver. Then I turn on the signal, check the side mirrors, glance over my shoulder, etc.

 

Hey - those bubble mirrors work great when you have a T-Rex chasing you!!!

 

Yea.... I hate it when that happens!

 

I've set my mirrors that way for years, it works very well.

 

"Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear." :huh: :blink:

 

I was looking around for a picture to add to that post but couldn't find any. I know they're out there. Help anyone???

 

Nice Avatar!.... Good job! :lol:

 

An insurance company brochure states the following:

. For the left mirror, place your head against the glass and adjust so you can just barely see the back left side of the car.

. For the right mirror, center your head over the center console and adjust so you can just see the back right side of the car.

I've been doing this for years and it really works, especially on the right side. On the left side I don't quite trust my mirror to see all because when I've turned to look back before changing lanes, I've been surprised a couple of times.

 

I am with windstrings on this one.
I always have little convex mirrors (round ones in my case) on all my vehicles' (large or small) side mirrors. My wife and I are so used to them. It makes me nervous if I have to drive a vehicle (such as loaner cars) w/o them. Never have any near-miss so far. Inside lower corner is the best as windstrings said.