Wing mirrors on cars

[NY]

It describes *both* mirrors on my car and on my wife's car: plane for seeing the periphery of the car (*) and the majority of the traffic in the lanes either side of you, and convex for seeing cars that are very close to you in an adjacent lane and are therefore off the edge of the plane section. I use the convex section to determine that there is a car very close to me when I'm about to overtake or pull in, such that I can't judge its distance away (because it appears further away / smaller than it really is) but I know to look over the relevant shoulder to see its true distance.

(*) eg where the rear wheel is in relation to a kerb when parking, by tilting the mirror down - either manually or else automatically when reverse is selected.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Courts should be made illegal.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Almost every car in the UK has mirrors that are adjustable by motor. Don't tell me you still reach out of the window to adjust them?

[NY]

That video recommends adjusting the mirrors completely differently to how I was taught - so as to exclude any view of the side of the car. I adjust both mine so I can see a small amount of my own car as well as the lane either side. Without being able to see my car to give context, all that mirrors are saying is "there is a car - somewhere"; if I can see that car in relation to mine I can judge where the car is as well as saying that it is *somewhere near me*.

But then all my recent cars have had split-field mirrors, and on my older cars I had a adhesive plastic convex mirror that stuck to the plane mirror so I could see two fields of view.

I notice that coaches/buses, especially those with a "droopy rabbit's ear" mounting that protrudes forwards from just above the windscreen/windshield, have three different mirrors in each housing:

- plane, angled for lane-changes

- convex or plane, angled further outwards for blind-spot elimination

- convex angled slightly downwards to see rear wheels when reversing and to see cyclists who are trying to pass on the passenger's side when the car is turning that way (eg for a RHD car which is turning left).

[NY]

Yes, I'm sure they do - now. I was querying was "wing mirrors are Limey invention" which tended to imply that US cars changed from wing to door mirrors much earlier that we did, or else had door mirrors rather than wing mirrors right from the beginning of the car era (ie Ford Model T onwards).

[Tim Streater]

Who'd have thought it would have its own Winky entry, eh?

It's completely unnecessary, of course.

[Tim Streater]

That appeared to be the case in the 80s which is when I was buying new cars in the US.

[tim...]

not it someone sued you, it isn't

tim

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Is it my imagination or is there no blind spot on cars at all? Have they made mirrors better? Or do some people not use them properly?

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Like everyone else, I turn round and look behind me to get a full view in my whole field of vision. Wing mirrors are for pulling out or changing lane.

[James Wilkinson Sword]

Or you could just learn to drive? In the UK, parking is part of the driving test. Maybe you should retake yours.

[Chris Green]

For quite a while the adjustment of the driver's door one was by a little joystick that was mechanically coupled to the mirror, no need to open the window or anything but not an electric motor either.

[charles]

trouble is that as you get lder your body doesn't turn as easily. I find the reversing camera a godsend.

[NY]

Parking involves using whatever aids your car provides. You may have to open the door and look backwards if you have no central rear-view mirror (van/HGV). You may use your door mirrors and/or your rear-view mirror if they give a good enough perception of depth to know when to stop reversing into the wall/car behind you. You may use your cameras and parking sensors if you have them.

A wise driver uses all the technology (mirrors, cameras, parking sensors) available to him, maybe using different things in different situations.

I used to turn and look over my shoulder when reversing because it gives a good all-round view without having to look alternately at right, central and left mirrors. Now I tend to use my mirrors because I can judge *lateral* position (car relative to hedge, kerb, white bay-marking line) better than by looking over my shoulder: use central mirror to line up equally between cars/lines and then use one door mirror to check that I maintain the spacing between my rear wheel and one of the lines.

It's a shame that none of the cars that I have driven have had cameras in the door mirrors and a split-screen view from both, which is easier to monitor than looking alternately into left and right mirrors, with the delay while the eyes/brain context-shifts between one and the other.

[Rod Speed]

NY wrote

I do too, but having just lent my car to someone else for a week, I noticed he does it the other way.

But surely you get used to what the mirrors are showing so you know where the car is, and that gets confirmed every time they pass you.

I call them horns.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I know how to drive and park but with the design of most cars today you see no part of your car out the rear window. Rear cameras are mandatory on 2018 models.

[Max Demian]

Can you actually read the message on the passenger door mirror from the driver's seat?

[rbowman]

2011.

It seems from reading this group that

This state has no safety or smog tests. My brother had an elderly Tercel that he loved but he lived in California which has rigid smog tests. When it could no longer pass he donated it to one of those programs that ships cars to third world countries so it probably is happily polluting the world in Uruguay or someplace.

You might get stopped for defective equipment like a burned out light here but that's way down on the cops' todo list.

The car is the newest thing in the driveway. The oldest is the '86 pickup followed by the '98 Harley. Bikes are a little different so I actually bought that one in '97. The other bikes are 15 and 10 years old. They all are licensed and running. The only reason for the 2011 Toyota is a snowplow destroyed the 2007 version.

[rbowman]

I sincerely hope not. I've seen the future though. The last time a cop stopped me he approached on the passenger side. When I reached across to roll down the window he said 'I didn't know they made manual windows anymore,'

I am getting like my father who viewed automatic transmissions, power brakes, power steering, and car radios with extreme suspicion. He was reconciled to heaters. (at the time a heater showed up as an extra cost option).

I became reconciled to air conditioning when I couldn't buy a car without it. Same with ABS. I suppose the other crap will follow.

[rbowman]

Yes. Once, unless I knock them out of adjustment scraping ice off. Nobody drives my car but me. Why would I worry about adjusting mirrors, seats, and so forth?