Blind Spot Check

Author
Discussion

Buzypea

225 posts

138 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
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When I started driving 30 odd years ago, I mainly had work vans for the first few years. Morris Marina van, Mk1 Fiesta van, Escort van and a Transit. You then become reliant on your mirrors and learn to trust them. Checking your blind spot by turning your head is not an option...all you’ll see is a metal panel. I’m guessing this is why I now never check over my shoulder.

I think with properly adjusted mirrors and a lot of awareness it’s not really necessary. Otherwise you’d see vans crashing all of the time.

Moonhawk

10,730 posts

218 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
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Pretty much every time. It became second nature after I took my bike test - and I do it out of instinct even though I no longer ride.

Alias218

1,485 posts

161 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
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Always. Every time I change lanes or otherwise need to check for hidden vehicles, in fact.

I also clearly remember my dad, who passed his test in 1872, chastising me for doing just that when I was still a relative newbie.

ensignia

919 posts

234 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
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Alias218 said:
Always. Every time I change lanes or otherwise need to check for hidden vehicles, in fact.

I also clearly remember my dad, who passed his test in 1872, chastising me for doing just that when I was still a relative newbie.

Alias218

1,485 posts

161 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
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ensignia said:
Alias218 said:
Always. Every time I change lanes or otherwise need to check for hidden vehicles, in fact.

I also clearly remember my dad, who passed his test in 1872, chastising me for doing just that when I was still a relative newbie.
There he is!

The Dangerous Elk

4,642 posts

76 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
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Alias218 said:
There he is!
Is that the New TVR ?

sparkythecat

7,898 posts

254 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
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TooMany2cvs said:
sparkythecat said:
Interesting that you mention Volvo. I've just done a long trip with my mate in his Volvo XC60 which has a blind spot alert system built into it. If there is something moving in your blind spot an orange light flashes on the relevant door mirror fixing inside the car.
Lots of modern stuff does - you can see it as you pass 'em on the m'way.

It's often surprising as to what does and what doesn't.
I didn't realise that they were quite so common. The youngest car in our household is 11years old, so we are living in the automotive dark ages.

Conrod Straight

39 posts

144 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
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4 pages in and it looks like I will have to be the first....

...I haven't checked my blind spot for a decade or more, ever since taking a driving course. The instructor, who teaches Highway Patrol, claimed there is no such thing as a blind spot IF your mirrors are set correctly.

Pushing the side mirrors out pretty much as far as they go gives you an uninterupted view behind and to the side of you in combination with the rear view mirror. Having side mirrors that simply reproduce the rear vision mirror is pretty pointless isn't it?

The idea is a car in the distance is in the rear view mirror, as they get closer they appear in the side mirrors, and once they leave those they appear in your peripheral vision by your side. There's no time the car disappears from view.
I drove for years in peak hour traffic on the busiest multi lane roads in Sydney and never once had anything resembling a near miss. When I used to shoulder check, I certainly had a few misses running up the back of people though.

This is a better explanation than mine https://www.caranddriver.com/features/how-to-adjus...

Riley Blue

20,915 posts

225 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
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Conrod Straight said:
4 pages in and it looks like I will have to be the first....

...I haven't checked my blind spot for a decade or more, ever since taking a driving course. The instructor, who teaches Highway Patrol, claimed there is no such thing as a blind spot IF your mirrors are set correctly.

Pushing the side mirrors out pretty much as far as they go gives you an uninterupted view behind and to the side of you in combination with the rear view mirror. Having side mirrors that simply reproduce the rear vision mirror is pretty pointless isn't it?

The idea is a car in the distance is in the rear view mirror, as they get closer they appear in the side mirrors, and once they leave those they appear in your peripheral vision by your side. There's no time the car disappears from view.
I drove for years in peak hour traffic on the busiest multi lane roads in Sydney and never once had anything resembling a near miss. When I used to shoulder check, I certainly had a few misses running up the back of people though.

This is a better explanation than mine https://www.caranddriver.com/features/how-to-adjus...
You've completely overlooked several classes of road user by only mentioning 'cars' - perhaps they're in your mental blind spot.

Mastodon2

13,818 posts

164 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
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Krikkit said:
I do both, but it's easy to have a quick glance. I should get into the habit on single carriageways before overtaking as well, but I've never encountered anyone that gets there before me without being noticed.
It's motorbikes you need to be on the lookout for here as they're a lot faster than you. They could pull out and overtake from a vehicle behind and go to overtake and you could end up pulling out into them as they pass due to your negligence. There is no reason not to be checking your blind spots.

JakeT

5,406 posts

119 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
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Conrod Straight said:
4 pages in and it looks like I will have to be the first....

...I haven't checked my blind spot for a decade or more, ever since taking a driving course. The instructor, who teaches Highway Patrol, claimed there is no such thing as a blind spot IF your mirrors are set correctly.

Pushing the side mirrors out pretty much as far as they go gives you an uninterupted view behind and to the side of you in combination with the rear view mirror. Having side mirrors that simply reproduce the rear vision mirror is pretty pointless isn't it?

The idea is a car in the distance is in the rear view mirror, as they get closer they appear in the side mirrors, and once they leave those they appear in your peripheral vision by your side. There's no time the car disappears from view.
I drove for years in peak hour traffic on the busiest multi lane roads in Sydney and never once had anything resembling a near miss. When I used to shoulder check, I certainly had a few misses running up the back of people though.

This is a better explanation than mine https://www.caranddriver.com/features/how-to-adjus...
I have my mirrors set up this way, but do a shoulder check to be sure. I like to be 100% after almost collecting an Alfa when changing lanes once.

beko1987

1,636 posts

133 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
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Always turn my head too,again from experience of once collecting a 206 when I hadn't long passed my test.

Also a while ago on the M40, Checked my mirrors, nothing there, indicated and went to check again and pull out, and got flashed. By a car with the entire drivers side of their car in complete darkness until he flashed his main beam, dick. My mirrors would have only seen his drivers side lights. I have my mirrors adjusted a bit better now so that doesn't happen again,but still check

But I'm the sort of person who, if I need to move from l1 to l2, and there's a car quite close in L2 will just hang back and wait for that car to pass, then pull out. Even if that car can move into L3 to let me out. Just don't like forcing cars to move, unless it's an emergency etc/some idiot doing 46mph in an empty L1

I was also taught and still generally do to only pull back in if you can see the whole vehicle you have just passed in the rear view mirror. Exceptions happen now I've been driving a few years but generally I wait for both headlights to appear before moving back in.

Conrod Straight

39 posts

144 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
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Riley Blue said:
Conrod Straight said:
4 pages in and it looks like I will have to be the first....

...I haven't checked my blind spot for a decade or more, ever since taking a driving course. The instructor, who teaches Highway Patrol, claimed there is no such thing as a blind spot IF your mirrors are set correctly.

Pushing the side mirrors out pretty much as far as they go gives you an uninterupted view behind and to the side of you in combination with the rear view mirror. Having side mirrors that simply reproduce the rear vision mirror is pretty pointless isn't it?

The idea is a car in the distance is in the rear view mirror, as they get closer they appear in the side mirrors, and once they leave those they appear in your peripheral vision by your side. There's no time the car disappears from view.
I drove for years in peak hour traffic on the busiest multi lane roads in Sydney and never once had anything resembling a near miss. When I used to shoulder check, I certainly had a few misses running up the back of people though.

This is a better explanation than mine https://www.caranddriver.com/features/how-to-adjus...
You've completely overlooked several classes of road user by only mentioning 'cars' - perhaps they're in your mental blind spot.
Oh ho ho ho. Any particular reason to go straight for the smart arse comment? Okay, for the benefit of anyone reading the post, where I've put 'cars' insert any other class of moving vehicle on the highway.
Get a pedestrian to walk a 360 around your car and not once will they disappear into any 'blind spot'. I don't care if they're on a bike, a truck or a pair of roller skates, they remain in vision.

nipsips

1,163 posts

134 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
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Every time.

Joys of driving a newish Vivaro with its terrible door mirrors and massive blind spots.

Paul O

2,705 posts

182 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
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I do the check too, although the current car has got one of those bendy mirrors that covers the blind spot.

Our previous Evoque had a gaping cavern of blind spotless. I bought those little blind spot mirrors for that as it was shocking.

InitialDave

11,853 posts

118 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
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Yep, pretty much always shoulder check.

corozin

2,680 posts

270 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
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I'm slightly surprised at the question, as this is a basic driving skill which anyone with a licence would not only have been taught, but also examined on when they took thier test !

Ekona

1,652 posts

201 months

Thursday 23rd November 2017
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corozin said:
I'm slightly surprised at the question, as this is a basic driving skill which anyone with a licence would not only have been taught, but also examined on when they took thier test !
This is true, but you know what? When I started learning, right up to and including my test, I had no idea what a blind spot/lifesaver look was.

My instructor, who I assumed must've been fairly decent, never actually ever explained to me what it was, or what it was for. It was just assumed that I knew, so when he told me to do it I'd simply turn my head to the right and then carry on with whatever manoeuver it was I was attempting to carry out. This went on through all my lessons, and I did the exact same thing in my test: Just turn my head to the right without actually looking at anything, and then carrying on as normal.

Utterly terrifying really. Looking back I should've asked, but I wasn't the most confident person back then. Rubbish excuse, I know. Oddly it was on the drive home alone from the test centre after passing (took the test in my own car, dropped my supervising passenger off post-test) that it suddenly clicked as I felt incredibly paranoid on that first solo drive. I started looking round everywhere at everything and then boom! It hit me as to what it actually was I was supposed to be looking at laugh


That was a good 16 years ago now, and I've consistently carried out that lifesaver look properly ever since.

Loyly

17,990 posts

158 months

Friday 24th November 2017
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Every time. I picked it up doing advanced training and I now ride motorbikes too, so it's always stood me well.

heebeegeetee

28,591 posts

247 months

Friday 24th November 2017
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A couple of bad mistakes I'm seeing more frequently nowadays:

Car traveling along a slip road to join a motorway or dc, driver intently looking in mirrors but doesn't look around elsewhere. Car joins lane 1, driver wants to move straight into lane 2 and is still intently looking in door mirror, and then almost runs slap into the car already established in lane 2 because he didn't look through his window.

Another one is on 3 lane roads, cars in lanes 1 and 3 both elect to move into lane 2 at the same time, and nearly hit each other because they're both intently staring to see what's behind them but don't actually look where they're going.