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It's downright dangerous. Sometimes I have to hold my hand up to block my side view mirrors at night just to avoid being blinded. I keep thinking that people ha

It's downright dangerous. Sometimes I have to hold my hand up to block my side view mirrors at night just to avoid being blinded. I keep thinking that people have their brights on. And at the same time, other drivers forget to turn their headlights on at night, and it takes time for my eyes to re-adjust enough to see them. I never thought that I would want to see some regulation around maximum headlight brightness, but I really really do.

ntsplnkv2 7y ago
I actually shifted my mirrors outward so the light isn't reflecting on me at all times. So now to use my side mirrors I shift to see. This is obviously not ideal.
- leggomylibro 7y ago
  Oh, that's a good idea. I actually have a friend who tilts their mirrors really far out so they can barely see their own car, and they did say that it helps them see more once they got used to it. Thanks for the reminder.
  - linsomniac 7y ago
    Many people recommend against seeing the corners of your vehicle in your side mirrors at all. The argument goes: Those are for seeing your blind spots, not for seeing behind you, and moving them way out will dramatically reduce your blind spot. Use the rear view mirror for, you know, the rear view. It's taken me a long time to get used to, but it seems to work. I had to break myself of the habit of using just the side view mirror for changing lanes, to ensure there is no fast moving traffic overtaking. The biggest problem there is if someone is close up on you, like in stop and go. But I can lean over a bit to adjust the side angle then or when backing into parking. https://www.cartalk.com/content/avoiding-blind-spot-5 https://www.cartalk.com/content/avoiding-blind-spot-5
    - yellowapple 7y ago
      The only problem is that things get a bit dicey if you don't actually have a rear view mirror (e.g. it's obstructed, or you're driving a vehicle that lacks one entirely, like a cargo van or box truck). This is a pretty rare case, though, and in those cases such vehicles typically have wide-angle mirrors that make it much easier to see both directly behind and to the side.
  - viewer5 7y ago
    Mine are this same way. My side mirrors do a better job at covering the gap between my peripheral and my rearview this way, instead of overlapping as much with my rearview.
- u801e 7y ago
  That's actually the recommended[1] way to adjust the side mirrors. [1] https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/blindzoneglaremirrormethod.pdf https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/blindzonegla...
- behringer 7y ago
  You shouldn't really see your car or the car behind you in your side views. Your side views are for seeing the other lanes. You should turn your mirrors just far enough that you can't see your car at all in any of your normal sitting up position, for both mirrors.
  - leggomylibro 7y ago
    Sure, but my rear view is usually blocked by a dirt bike when I'm driving long distances, so I have fisheye extensions on my side mirrors to see behind me.
  - ntsplnkv2 7y ago
    Even if my mirrors are set to "optimal", I am still blinded. So my mirrors are a bit further out.
- praptak 7y ago
  That's actually a good practice regardless of the blinding effect. It reduces the blind areas between your side vision and what's covered by the side mirrors. Edit: a blog post about this: https://www.hanselman.com/blog/HowToAdjustYourSiderearviewMirrorsAndWhyYouNeed3Monitors.aspx https://www.hanselman.com/blog/HowToAdjustYourSiderearviewMi...
mcguire 7y ago
HID headlights are a bigger problem than trucks/SUVs. I've been blinded by sedans on divide highways.
- ntsplnkv2 7y ago
  They are, but trucks/SUVs sit higher, and their headlights are higher - trucks behind me, for example, are completely blinding because their lights shine directly into my car and mirrors.
- linsomniac 7y ago
  Are you sure they are HID and not aftermarkets as mentioned in this article? I find that most HIDs seem to shine LESS light up into my eyes as oncoming traffic, because it is so well isolated down onto the road, with less being sent up higher. My old Audi's that had HIDs would adjust the height of the headlights whey you started them, to account for load in the trunk and back seats, which tend to lift the headlights up more. ISTR that there were regulations about the amount of light headlights could put out, and HIDs were more effective largely because they eliminated light going where you didn't need it, and were able to concentrate the light more out and down than up.
- lutorm 7y ago
  If they're properly aligned, the only time you get flashed is when cars are cresting a hill.

ntsplnkv2 7y ago

I actually shifted my mirrors outward so the light isn't reflecting on me at all times. So now to use my side mirrors I shift to see. This is obviously not ideal.

leggomylibro 7y ago
Oh, that's a good idea. I actually have a friend who tilts their mirrors really far out so they can barely see their own car, and they did say that it helps them see more once they got used to it. Thanks for the reminder.
- linsomniac 7y ago
  Many people recommend against seeing the corners of your vehicle in your side mirrors at all. The argument goes: Those are for seeing your blind spots, not for seeing behind you, and moving them way out will dramatically reduce your blind spot. Use the rear view mirror for, you know, the rear view. It's taken me a long time to get used to, but it seems to work. I had to break myself of the habit of using just the side view mirror for changing lanes, to ensure there is no fast moving traffic overtaking. The biggest problem there is if someone is close up on you, like in stop and go. But I can lean over a bit to adjust the side angle then or when backing into parking. https://www.cartalk.com/content/avoiding-blind-spot-5 https://www.cartalk.com/content/avoiding-blind-spot-5
  - yellowapple 7y ago
    The only problem is that things get a bit dicey if you don't actually have a rear view mirror (e.g. it's obstructed, or you're driving a vehicle that lacks one entirely, like a cargo van or box truck). This is a pretty rare case, though, and in those cases such vehicles typically have wide-angle mirrors that make it much easier to see both directly behind and to the side.
- viewer5 7y ago
  Mine are this same way. My side mirrors do a better job at covering the gap between my peripheral and my rearview this way, instead of overlapping as much with my rearview.
u801e 7y ago
That's actually the recommended[1] way to adjust the side mirrors. [1] https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/blindzoneglaremirrormethod.pdf https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/blindzonegla...
behringer 7y ago
You shouldn't really see your car or the car behind you in your side views. Your side views are for seeing the other lanes. You should turn your mirrors just far enough that you can't see your car at all in any of your normal sitting up position, for both mirrors.
- leggomylibro 7y ago
  Sure, but my rear view is usually blocked by a dirt bike when I'm driving long distances, so I have fisheye extensions on my side mirrors to see behind me.
- ntsplnkv2 7y ago
  Even if my mirrors are set to "optimal", I am still blinded. So my mirrors are a bit further out.
praptak 7y ago
That's actually a good practice regardless of the blinding effect. It reduces the blind areas between your side vision and what's covered by the side mirrors. Edit: a blog post about this: https://www.hanselman.com/blog/HowToAdjustYourSiderearviewMirrorsAndWhyYouNeed3Monitors.aspx https://www.hanselman.com/blog/HowToAdjustYourSiderearviewMi...

mcguire 7y ago

HID headlights are a bigger problem than trucks/SUVs. I've been blinded by sedans on divide highways.

ntsplnkv2 7y ago
They are, but trucks/SUVs sit higher, and their headlights are higher - trucks behind me, for example, are completely blinding because their lights shine directly into my car and mirrors.
linsomniac 7y ago
Are you sure they are HID and not aftermarkets as mentioned in this article? I find that most HIDs seem to shine LESS light up into my eyes as oncoming traffic, because it is so well isolated down onto the road, with less being sent up higher. My old Audi's that had HIDs would adjust the height of the headlights whey you started them, to account for load in the trunk and back seats, which tend to lift the headlights up more. ISTR that there were regulations about the amount of light headlights could put out, and HIDs were more effective largely because they eliminated light going where you didn't need it, and were able to concentrate the light more out and down than up.
lutorm 7y ago
If they're properly aligned, the only time you get flashed is when cars are cresting a hill.