TSMB, it works on every vehicle that I have tried it on, that includes rental cars and company cars. I really can’t see where it would not work unless someone produces a vehicle with side view mirrors that are way too small. I know they look tacky, but the Japanese JDM cars have the best mirrors for driving in city traffic. They are mounted on the fender, six inches behind the headlight.
U.S. D.O.T. requirements mandate the mirror location on all current cars sold in the states. I like the fender mounted mirrors too.
Personally, i’d like to see four rear-facing bullet cameras used,one on each fender and two behind or above the rear window, with four small screens lined up just below (or above) the steering wheel. That could provide a full panoramic view and not be affected by weather. Looking on a dark rainy night tthrough a wet side window at a wet mirror can be very hard to see adequately. I would not be averse to also requiring mirrors.
Looking back over your shoulder is asking for a rear-ender. You hitting something in front of you!!
There are views you can’t have without mirrors and there are views you can’t have without turning your head. They are all important.
I have been involved in training a few drivers, and I have trained them always to look over your shoulder to make sure the cost is clear. As far as I know this is a time honored practice due to blind spots. I remember making my neice do that, she thought it was silly, but it was my requirement if she wanted to drive with me and get her practice hours. Not surprisingly enough, nothing in the mirrors and she was freaked because she looked over her shoulder and a car was there, she was like OMG I would have hit him. I said that is why you look over your shoulder. Improving side mirror angle certainly helps but loking over your shoulder, even if only saves you once is in mhop worth it!
Check out the state driver’s manual. What does it say about this? That’s what the test will be based upon. It probably says something like “before making a turn or changing lane, verify visually that no car is in the driver’s blind spot”. They want folks to understand that the mirrors usually don’t cover the total area, and there is a blind spot the mirrors don’t see. What this means to not rely entirely on the mirrors. To prove she doesn’t to the test-giver, she should briefly turn her head to double-check her blind spot.
Me? Do I do this? It depends upon what car I’m driving. I have a truck which has good enough visiblity to the rear just using the mirrors I don’t need to, but yes, I do turn my head if I’m driving the other car, a passenger car, and unsure whether the mirrors are covering what needs to be seen. More of an issue on the passenger side than the driver’s side in my car. Just a brief glance is all.
But I don’t rely 100% on the mirrors. I think that is the point.
One thing that is important in a drivers test is to not hit any cars. My wife used to park my 61 Corvair at school in front of the court house where they gave the drivers tests. One afternoon she came out and the side had been scraped and the chrome knocked off. There was a note on the car that some poor girl had hit it during her test. She flunked but at least it was demonstrated what to do in an accident. The tester was a highway patrolman that was really a nice guy that moonlighted as a bouncer at the dance hall, but was the meanest, gruffest, looking and sounding guy you’d ever want to meet. (picture drill sarge) I’m sure it was a while before the girl tried the test again.
EllyEllis wrote:
Looking back over your shoulder is asking for a rear-ender. You hitting something in front of you!!
The chance of this is much smaller than the chance of a car being in your blind spot, especially if you’re not tailgating the car in front of you.
Agreed with lion9car. The difference here is a quick glance over your shoulder to make sure that blind spot is clear, as opposed to turning your heard allllllll the way back to check that whole lane behind you. The latter is what she’s been doing for lane changes, and it’s what I found dangerous. Takes your eyes off the road for too long, make your car drift too.
I’m certain that the teaching style is intended to develop the habit of looking over one’s shoulder and UN-develop a ‘mirrors only’ habit.
Teaching styles differ by teacher.
Passing tests differs by class as well.
My wife discoverd this and adapted well when she went BACK to school for her RN degree.
When she could adjust her class schedule to match her learning style to the teaching style it was a breeze…and it mattered…to get the most out of each class.
In the case of this driving instructor it’s only a temporary matter of doing things his way for now and passing the test on his terms.
Personally, i'd like to see four rear-facing bullet cameras used,one on each fender and two behind or above the rear window, with four small screens lined up just below (or above) the steering wheel. That could provide a full panoramic view and not be affected by weather. Looking on a dark rainy night tthrough a wet side window at a wet mirror can be very hard to see adequately. I would not be averse to also requiring mirrors.
I disagree with this based on how my backup camera can be affected by rain and snow quite easily. It’s mounted in a recessed area with the license plate, but rain and snow tend to get splashed around the back and build up on the lens of the camera.
As for looking over your shoulder, if you’re looking all the way back instead of glancing, then the car will tend to move the way you’re facing. You may wind up changing lanes without realizing it.
@Bing … lol … funny story about new drivers taking the test … My sister (then a 16 year old teenager) ran into a telephone pole on her first driving test! I’m not making this up. Just a tiny dent in the fender, but, as you might expect, she failed.
When I took my first driver’s test (also as a 16 year old), as I drove into the parking lot to park at the end of the test, I noticed a big hole, as I looked more closely I noticed the entire wall was caved-in of the DMV building there. I asked the test administrator what happened? He said one of the new divers taking the driving test had put the car in Forward instead of Reverse and ran right into the building! This was before the test had even started! I imagine he failed! Oh, this is too much!!! Those folks who do these tests must have plenty of funny stories if only they could tell them.
One more story … my gf at the time, she knew how to drive fine, had been driving for years, but she had recently moved to my state from another and needed a DL from this state, so I gave her some hints on how to pass the driver’s test … every time I said “watch out for this” “watch out for that”, you know, some minor point, like to come to a full stop before the sidewalk when pulling out from a parking lot, things most experienced drivers usually don’t do to the letter, but I knew they tested on it, she’d say to me straight-away “Oh, they’ll never test me on that” … well, they did, on each one, and it took her 4 times to pass!! You only get 3 times per application, so she had to completely re-submit her application and pay again, then take both the written (which she had already passed on the first application) and the drivers’s part … lol
My first time out taking the road test I got one of those cones they use for maneuverability stuck under the car(Olds Cutlass Calais).
I took my driver’s test in a 1954 Buick that my dad owned at the time. The Buick had a manual transmission which was rare in a Buick even at that time. The driving examiner was fascinated by the car and explained to me that in 1955, the California Highway Patrol used Buicks with manual transmisisons. Four years later, my brother took his driving test in the same car. By that time, the rear end was noisy. The examiner had my brother stop the car. The examiner then got in the back seat and tried to diagnose whether the problem was a worn ring and pinion gear or a noisy carrier bearing. Neither my brother nor I had to work very hard at our driving test.
With regard to rear view mirrors, I was assigned Ford Escape hybrid from my institution’s fleet to drive to a conference three hundred miles away. The left side rear view mirror had two sections–one section showed the car as it approached. As the car became abreast, the image of the car went to the outside section of the mirror. I really liked this feature and I’m not usually impressed by things like this (I was always more impressed by the early 1960s Austin Healey Sprites than cars with useless feature such as outside door handles, roll up windows, etc.)
I retired in 1997, and since then have driven approximately 250,000 miles. I became very conscious of that blind spot risk. I have zero tolerance for close calls, and blind spots produce close calls.
First, I adjusted my mirrors as Tom and Ray suggested many years ago. There was still a blind spot, though smaller. (Mini-van.) As I remember, the blind spot is out in the other lane, as I state below it has been quite a while since I had blind spot problems.
I put on those little stick-em mirrors, someone called them fisheye. No more blind spot, period.
I do not ever turn my head to look while driving forward. Zero close calls with the fish-eye mirrors over 180,000 miles.
I was the one who referred to fisheye mirrors, and I advocate them on every vehicle in which you can’t clearly see by looking over your shoulder, like vans, minivans, trucks, etc., (or if you have physical limitations and can’t look over your shoulder), but I don’t prescribe them in most cars where you can look over your shoulder and see clearly. For one thing, small cars tend to have small mirrors, and mounting convex mirrors will take away valuable real estate from the OEM mirrors. It’s important to have both types of mirrors, not just one type. Minivans, vans, and trucks usually have larger mirrors, so you can stand to give up a little real estate for the wide angle convex mirrors.
One time when I dropped off my motorcycle for work, I was given a loaner that had convex mirrors mounted on the handlebar mirrors. I didn’t like having them there. For a young driver, looking over your shoulder is a very good habit to develop. In fact, the bikes they use for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s basic rider’s course have the mirrors removed.