Adjusting Car Mirrors Properly

[HTSS_TR]

If the green car is at another 2-3 cars lengths back it would not appear on the right side mirror, only on rear view mirror and it is safe to change to right lane, assume that the green car is at same speed, this means you should monitor mirrors constantly every few seconds, especially just before you want to change lane.

As shown in the CarandDriver illustrate, the green car is too close for the blue car to change lane, safe lane change is when you have 4-5 car lengths opening if the car on the lane you like to change to is at the same speed as yours.

Many drivers don't know that rear view mirror is for seeing cars in the rear, side view mirrors for seeing cars on the side lanes, side view mirrors are not for seeing the rear panels of your car.

 

[Jetronic]

and then there's the LAW

you must be able to see the sides of a trailer.

why wouldn't you need to see the sides of your car aswell then? when manoeuvring there could be a pedestrien by the rear side door which you can't seeif the mirrors are adjusted too far outwards.

 

[HTSS_TR]

There is no law about setting mirrors for light vehicle without trailer, at least not in California.

The only time that a pedestrian can be around the rear of a vehicle is when you back out a parking lot, no mirror setting can detect pedestrians within 5-6 feet around the rear of your vehicle, you need to turn your head left and right to see if anyone is around, also to see any approaching vehicle from either side.

Backing out of a parking lot is the most difficult, especially when there are 2 larger vehicles such as minivans on both side of your smaller car, you will not be able to see any approaching vehicle if it was more than 10-15 feet away.

 

[fdcg27]

I suspect that anyone with much experience driving on busy roads with at least two lanes both ways already knows how to set the mirrors.
The guy who said that his wife worries about drivers in other lanes not adjacent to her's on roads with more than two in each direction has a smart wife.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
I suspect that anyone with much experience driving on busy roads with at least two lanes both ways already knows how to set the mirrors.
The guy who said that his wife worries about drivers in other lanes not adjacent to her's on roads with more than two in each direction has a smart wife.

I agree. This worries me a lot whenever I changed lane. This is why it is prudent to turn on signal for a second or 2 before change lane and keep an eye on the lane that you are changing into, to make sure that no other car on the third lane is changing into the same lane at the same time.

At stop light I can see driver face on the left side mirror of the car directly on front.

On the 4-lanes highway you can see some drivers turn their heads more than 90 degrees to look for car(s) on either left or right. If you set mirror correctly you need to turn less than 15-20 degrees, so that you can see the front and side mirror.