Blind spot monitoring Vs proper mirror

[bigi]

Why can't auto manufacturers design proper side mirrors but they pour money into gimmicks such as blind spot monitoring???

I have a CX-5 with it, but it works only at MPH over 20.

I happen to need it most in speeds between 10-20 MPG during rush traffic. The mirrors they have HUGE blind spots no matter how those are adjusted.

People buy lots of wide angle mirrors and attach those to currently own manufacturer side mirrors.

That's all crap.

Why can't we have a mirror that shows all what's going on? I've seen some on Fords that part of the mirrors are wide angle and show more.

What is so difficult? Does everyone got so stuck so Tesla need to show how things are done?

It is a pity that most car manufacturers pour so much money and R&D into gimmicks, but we keep using 100+ year old tech in our cars.

 

[Ferzerp]

I finally learned how to point my mirror 6 months or so ago. If you properly aim them, you usually have little to no blind spot. If you can see your car in them, you're aiming them wrong really. You shouldn't be able to see your car unless you move your head quite a bit. Even in my vette, with the mirrors properly aimed, there is an overlap between what is in the rear view, and the side view, and then again with what is in the side view and my peripheral vision. I (and probably most of us) learned poor mirror aiming while learning to drive, creating blind spots that really don't need to be there.

Read this:

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/how-to-adjust-your-mirrors-to-avoid-blind-spots


That said, on my commuter car with blind spot mirrors, I use the "incorrect" aiming and see the side of my vehicle in the car.


Try it out. It takes a bit to get used to, but you see so much better.

 

[KentState]

Even when properly adjusted, cars just keep getting bigger pillars and smaller rear/side windows widening the blindspots. I've tried everything on CTS, but there is still a small sliver where a little car can get lost for a split second. The Altima we own on the other hand has a lot more window

 

[nerp]

I use mirrors only after I swivel my head and actually look out the windows.

 

[_Rick_]

I drive a small car, and usually turn my head, when looking into the side mirror, so I automatically see what's happening in the small blind spots.
What you actually need though, is situational awareness. Monitor cars as they move around you, and you'll be far less often surprised by cars appearing out of nowhere.

And, in heavy/congested traffic, I rarely change lanes (except for exits/merges/blocked lanes), as it reduces overall road throughput and merely adds danger. And often, I even feel as though the common sense move of going to the left lane, when I won't exit from the highway for a while, is counterproductive, as everyone does it, and finally the right lane ends up moving faster on average.

If you really have issues, there are stick-on/clip-on wide angle mirrors, for many cars, that should alleviate the blind spot issue.

 

[Kaido]

Why can't we have a mirror that shows all what's going on?

Simple reason to begin with: because it would ruin design aesthetics. You have to get customers to buy your cars. If it looks weird or non-standard, people are going to be pushed away from buying it. It's a dumb reason, but it's definitely one of the reasons. Another reason is legalities. Per Wikipedia:

In the U.S. and Canada, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 111 and the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 111 require the driver side mirror to provide "unit magnification", i.e., an undistorted 1:1 reflection achieved with a flat mirror. However, unit magnification limits the field of view that can be provided by a mirror of size compatible with the vehicle body. The ECE regulations in use throughout most of the world except North America permit the driver side mirror to have a planar, convex, or aspheric surface; an aspheric section is often combined with a larger convex section, and the two sections are separated by a visible line to alert the driver to the two sections' different perspective shifts.

If I were designing car, I'd definitely throw in every single safety feature available: different-shaped mirrors for improved visibility, blind spot monitoring systems, blind spot cameras, parking sensors, backup camera, etc. Why in the world would you not use every opportunity to make your commute safer? We kill over 30,000 people in the U.S. alone EVERY YEAR on the roads. We absolutely need more safety features - lane sway watch, auto-braking, adaptive cruise control, auto-parking, etc. If you think 30k deaths annually is a lot, try the number of car accidents in the U.S. every year: over 6 MILLION. 6,000,000+ accidents per year, every year. Yes, we desperately need better safety features.

But you also have to factor in (1) the NHTSA is slow to adopt safety features, (2) you still have to sell the car, and if it looks weird, you're going to have a harder time, and (3) you have to factor in the economics of it - it's expensive to the consumer to add safety features into the package. Subaru has an excellent system called EyeSight that adds a ton of great safety features: adaptive cruise control, pre-collision braking, and lane sway & departure warning. Except that you have to start out with the $30,000 Touring model for it to even become available as an option, and then you have to tack on another $2,400 to actually add it to the car. So right off the bat, you're looking at $32,400 to get all of the modern safety features available. For the people who could really use those features, like high school & college kids, that's way outside the range of most part-time job budgets.

And that's why we're stuck applying little convex mirrors on our cars to see better

 

[olds]

I finally learned how to point my mirror 6 months or so ago. If you properly aim them, you usually have little to no blind spot. If you can see your car in them, you're aiming them wrong really. You shouldn't be able to see your car unless you move your head quite a bit. Even in my vette, with the mirrors properly aimed, there is an overlap between what is in the rear view, and the side view, and then again with what is in the side view and my peripheral vision. I (and probably most of us) learned poor mirror aiming while learning to drive, creating blind spots that really don't need to be there.

Read this:

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/how-to-adjust-your-mirrors-to-avoid-blind-spots


That said, on my commuter car with blind spot mirrors, I use the "incorrect" aiming and see the side of my vehicle in the car.


Try it out. It takes a bit to get used to, but you see so much better.

How do you back into tight places?

 

[_Rick_]

How do you back into tight places?

By moving your head.

Anyway, I once trusted my side mirrors for parking, and made a mess of it, because both cars had boxy shapes, that were much wider at the arches, and thinner at the rear pillars. I aimed for the pillars, and scratched and dented the stupid wide arches. (dark cars, at night on a badly lit space...just after I dislocated my shoulder on a steering maneuver. Not my proudest moment.)

Anyway, if you see your own car, while driving, you're wasting angle. Set the mirror up, so that when you glance, you do not see your car, and when you move your head to the side, you can make out the outer edge.
Or adjust your mirrors for backing up. Most every car has mirrors that can be adjusted from the driver's side.

 

[repoman0]

If I were designing car, I'd definitely throw in every single safety feature available: different-shaped mirrors for improved visibility, blind spot monitoring systems, blind spot cameras, parking sensors, backup camera, etc. Why in the world would you not use every opportunity to make your commute safer? We kill over 30,000 people in the U.S. alone EVERY YEAR on the roads. We absolutely need more safety features - lane sway watch, auto-braking, adaptive cruise control, auto-parking, etc. If you think 30k deaths annually is a lot, try the number of car accidents in the U.S. every year: over 6 MILLION. 6,000,000+ accidents per year, every year. Yes, we desperately need better safety features.

None of that stuff is a substitute for paying attention while you drive -- no texting, talking on the phone with a coffee in the other hand and driving with knees, etc. Stuff like "automatic blind spot monitoring" will just serve to make people less aware of the roads around them, thinking "my car will deal with it for me."

People should be able to manage staying in their lane, ensuring no other vehicle is in blind spots, braking rather than rear ending someone with their old fasioned single speed cruise control, or they shouldn't be driving.

Make driver's license tests harder.

 

[Kaido]

None of that stuff is a substitute for paying attention while you drive -- no texting, talking on the phone with a coffee in the other hand and driving with knees, etc. Stuff like "automatic blind spot monitoring" will just serve to make people less aware of the roads around them, thinking "my car will deal with it for me."

People should be able to manage staying in their lane, ensuring no other vehicle is in blind spots, braking rather than rear ending someone with their old fasioned single speed cruise control, or they shouldn't be driving.

Make driver's license tests harder.

That's the thing though, you have to deal with reality if you're an automobile manufacturer. People are going to speed, drive drunk, drive tired, drive angry, drive with their knees, text, talk, do their nails & makeup, shave, eat breakfast, have arguments with passengers that takes their focus off the road, and do a variety of other things to make driving less safe. And the result is 6 million accidents per year and 30k deaths per year on the roads. So yes, while it won't substitute for better driving, we can't force people to drive better because we already have laws against things like speeding & texting while you drive and people still do them anyway. The driving tests won't get harder either because in most places it's pretty hard to commute to work & do errands without a car, so they have to grant licenses to a lot of people who really shouldn't be driving at all.

 

[phucheneh]

When I first started driving I remember how awful I thought the blind spots were in [insert random car].

Then I learned how to drive.

Not trying to be insulting...it's just true. I can totally appreciate the honesty of Ferzerp's reply. I didn't know how to aim mirrors...now I do. If more people knew (and actually USED the damn things), it wouldn't be such an issue.

If in doubt: Go to a parking lot or some sort of place where you can sit parallel to some other cars for a few mins without getting in anyone's way. Get close to a pair of cars (like on the end of a parking lot row), and start to roll by them. When one seems about as obscured as it can be...not visible in your rear view, hard or impossible to see when you turn your head...starting moving the mirror on that side until you can see it. You should see none of your own car; for me a slight lean yields a glimpse at the side of my car. More importantly, is also allows me to see down a little better for lining up on curbs or lines (mirrors that auto-tilt in reverse are retarded).

When you get them set right, 99% of cars will allow you to pick out a small car anywhere around you with a combo of mirrors and turning your damned head.

My only experience with blind spot was Volvo's BLIS, and it was fucking terrible. It was just a backup measure that MIGHT keep you from smashing into a car you didn't see. But relying on it would mean a wreck in probably your first week of owning the car. Now I see these new Mercedes commercials for 'it monitors your blind spots, AND it panics and jerks the wheel for you!' Holy god what a bad idea.

I think those types of systems are the path towards the automated car (gradual evolution rather than sudden revolution). And it's still scary as hell.

 

[kitatech]

re: phucheneh...
Please refrain from your foul language to express your emotions...I'm sure with a bit of thought you could find another word to post here on a public international forum where such language is found offensive by many others...

 

[kitatech]

Correctly adjusted mirrors is one very important set up...but there's another issue I've seen...

...that being that the interior rearview mirrors are too small when you move the seat back to stretch your legs on a long run...too small to encompass the entire rear window...

....and in many cases few drivers set the seat forward enough to its "proper" position where the mirror's view encompasses the entire rear window.

Try moving the seat back and forward and see the effect it has on how much you can see in the rear view mirror...

 

[Zenmervolt]

re: phucheneh...
Please refrain from your foul language to express your emotions...I'm sure with a bit of thought you could find another word to post here on a public international forum where such language is found offensive by many others...

Nothing in his post is even remotely close to being out of line. Get off your high horse and develop a thicker skin. This is an internet forum for gearheads, not Miss Polly's boarding school for proper young ladies. Sanctimonious call-outs for things unrelated to the thread only encourage off-topic bickering.

I expect this to be the last on the topic of language from EITHER of you.

Zenmervolt - AnandTech Moderator

 

[996GT2]

I too didn't know the right way to adjust a mirror until about a year ago, when I saw the Car and Driver article linked above. It took a few weeks to get used to, but once I did it was a definite improvement over the way most people adjust their mirrors.

 

[phucheneh]

That image addresses the common 'I'm keeping a close eye on my door handles' adjustment issue, but it still doesn't get people familiar with where their 'blind spot' truly is. That was the point I was trying to make.

I also think their 'good' examples are aimed a bit high. They obviously don't want to encourage worthless ground-watching, but a little lower would hurt nothing and IMO give a more relevant picture of the surroundings so you can judge where those cars in your mirrors actually are. Especially on that passenger side example.

 

[who?]

http://www.cartalk.com/content/avoiding-blind-spot-6