Looking over the shoulder when merging or changing lanes takes your eyes off the road for 100 feet and results in 225 deaths annually. The solution? It's all done with mirrors.
AAA suggests drivers use these simple techniques:
- Rotate mirrors 15 degrees outward. Typically, drivers set outside mirrors to view the sides of the car. Turn the field of view of each outside mirror outward from their current location.
- Adjust for maximum view. With your head against the driver's side window, set your outside mirror to see the side of the car. For the passenger's mirror, move your head to the middle to make the same adjustment.
- Test the adjustment. From the normal driving position, watch a car as it passes. It should appear in the outside mirror before leaving the rear view mirror and in your peripheral vision before leaving the outside mirror.
Remember that the rearview mirror is the primary mirror of the vehicle, showing everything except the blind zone, and that the outside mirrors show only the blind zone.
Blind zones won't be eliminated, but none that remain will be large enough to hide a vehicle.
Source: AAA
