Technology dumbing down?

Anything that doesn't fit elsewhere - doesn't have to be AD related.
Gareth
Posts: 980
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 2:44 pm
Location: Berkshire
Contact:

Re: Technology dumbing down?

Postby Gareth » Fri Jun 24, 2016 6:54 am

Astraist wrote:Normally, what works best is to open the mirrors out to a point where both do not display the sides of one's own car and have at least the passenger side mirror (which in many cars cover a smaller field of vision) set even further so that there is just a bit of overlap between the outboard side of the interior mirror and inboard side of the side mirror.

[thread-drift] I do this when I'm mainly traveling on multi-lane roads but I find the lack of vertical visibility from the interior mirror means I prefer the side mirrors to be angled further in when I'm mainly traveling on hilly country roads [/thread-drift]
there is only the road, nothing but the road ...

Astraist
Posts: 239
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2015 10:41 pm

Re: Technology dumbing down?

Postby Astraist » Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:09 am

Yes, there are issues when the field of vision through the interior mirror is incomplete due to vertical curves, head restraints, passengers or a close following car behind.

For me, at least one of the side mirrors isn't angled very far out so I still get decent overlap for such conditions, although typically I don't see the sides of my own car in neither.

In the worst case, I still think slightly tilting the head to the mirror is easier (and less obstructive to forward vision) than rotating it to the side window.

It's a habituary thing, I suppose.

ancient
Posts: 179
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 4:03 pm

Re: Technology dumbing down?

Postby ancient » Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:58 am

akirk wrote:
ancient wrote:
gannet wrote:something else I've noticed as a cyclist is blind spot warning lights in the wing mirrors of cars I'm overtaking... how long before drivers of these become reliant on that little red/amber light and stops doing shoulder checks? Then having problems in cars without them...

Apparently there are blind spot warning lights on the (lease) car I'll be picking up in October. My reaction on being told what this system did, was "That is interesting. I've always wondered where the blind spots are with properly set mirrors and a willingness to actually look"; I guess I'll be finding out :lol: .


come and drive my z3 with the hood up :D
huge blind spots which could swallow a 38 tonner!
you can adjust the mirrors as much as you like, but...

having said that, with the hood down visibility is fantastic - and with the hood up you definitely have to build a picture of what is going on, and practise your observation

Alasdair

I used to drive (passed IAM test in) an MGA convertable, so I know precisely what you mean :D . No option (AFAIK) to retrofit this technology into cars of that era though (after market mirrors, yes and some are period correct) and modern cars would be better just fitting decent mirrors shirley :P.
On my Skoda estate when first delivered, I tried to find a blind spot: I placed a 4x4 timber upright by the rear wheel = visible in the mirrors, then moved it 4" at a time away from the car until I could see it in my peripheral vision when checking the mirror. Pillars etc on the nearside lost it occasionally, but it was still visible in the mirror until more than a lane width away. Offside it was never lost to sight.
Behind the car is of course another matter (new car has reversing camera, which I last used in a Prius); with the Skoda I have to use side mirrors to check when reversing along narrow lanes, but cannot find those elusive (illusive ;) ?) side blind spots. They must exist on some vehicles but better mirror design should be the priority (IMO).


Return to “General Chat”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 21 guests