Not A Blog™

[This article was originally published June 26, 2005. Interestingly enough, I just had another conversation about this two days ago.]

Your mirrors are set wrong. Naturally I’m talking about the rearview mirrors in your car. If you’re like every other person I’ve ever met, you position your side mirrors incorrectly. You have them pointed back along your car door, looking something like this, right?



[Note: I know the diagram is somewhat below the artistic standards you’ve come to expect from a professional such as myself. I’m currently in low-power mode. In order to facilitate the understanding of said diagrams, they are helpfully labeled.]

Most people can see their own car in their mirrors. Maybe they suspect it might disappear, so they need to keep an eye on it. I’m not sure. Unfortunately, what this causes is an enormous blind spot, because the mirror isn’t angled out far enough to show the traffic in the lane next to you on the highway. Little do most people realize, seeing this traffic is actually the point of the side mirrors.

The mirrors in your car should be positioned so that the scene from one mirror flows as continuously as possible into the next mirror. I suppose it’s important to point out that this is nearly impossible to attain, so if you just get it close, that works, too. When you look across all three of your mirrors, you should see an unbroken panorama of what is in back of you.



This diagram shows the correct placement of the driver’s side and rear-view mirrors. Note that the DeLorean continues in the next mirror where it leaves off on the first mirror. Also note what happens to your driver’s side mirror. It’s now angled outwards, and your car is nowhere to be seen. As nice as your car is, it’s not really important for it to be visible in your mirrors.

This setup has the added bonus of almost completely eliminating blind spots. Not completely, but almost. I happen to know that you’re a very prudent and careful driver, and that you always check over your shoulder before changing lanes, so I don’t even need to mention that the mirrors are not fool-proof and you should still check over your shoulder before changing lanes.

My recommendation, then, is to go out and adjust your car’s mirrors so you can see what you’re supposed to see, and stop causing other drivers such as myself heartache and rage every time you cut out in front of us on the highway because you didn’t know we were there.

Of course, don’t try to do this while driving.

-Ted

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