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Thanks to another commenter I found better pic of correct mirror placement: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/road-safety/1415402d1442394615-eliminatin

Thanks to another commenter I found better pic of correct mirror placement: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/road-safety/1415402d1442394615-eliminating-blind-spots-how-correctly-adjust-mirrors-orvm-correct.jpg https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/road-safety/14154... The rear and side mirrors overlap but only further behind the car and side mirrors don't show the road far behind you at all. > Also why not make the mirrors capture a slightly wider field so you can have the best of both...? Probably because it would require either much larger mirrors or much more curved (and thus making things even smaller than they already are). There are cars with much larger mirrors. If you notice, in most countries cars/trucks that don't have rear window (and thus no rear view mirror) are required to have larger side mirrors that can also cover the road behind the truck. Though trucks have other visibility problems that come mostly from the fact of just how high the driver sits.

Dylan16807 5y ago
If that's the correct mirror placement, then adjusting it to barely see your own car is less than five degrees off. If that's a dealbreaker than I'd say it's definitely worth the slight mirror size increase or slight magnification change to make the field of view five degrees wider.
- lmilcin 5y ago
  Do following exercise. Park parallel to a road with slow traffic. Observe cars coming from behind you as they transition from rear view mirror to side mirror to your peripheral vision. Make your own decision on what is right or not (it is your safety anyway). I prefer to have two small blind spots that can't fit a cyclist in either of them than one larger that can fit a small car.
  - Dylan16807 5y ago
    > I prefer to have two small blind spots that can't fit a cyclist in either of them than one larger that can fit a small car. And I'd rather have only one small blind spot, while being better able to judge where things in my side mirror are relative to my car. And this wouldn't require a big change to the mirror, only a quite small one, if that diagram is accurate. Also, the field of view shouldn't be so narrow that a 4 degree tilt makes a blind spot too big (my head moves more than that all the time!).

Dylan16807 5y ago

If that's the correct mirror placement, then adjusting it to barely see your own car is less than five degrees off. If that's a dealbreaker than I'd say it's definitely worth the slight mirror size increase or slight magnification change to make the field of view five degrees wider.

lmilcin 5y ago
Do following exercise. Park parallel to a road with slow traffic. Observe cars coming from behind you as they transition from rear view mirror to side mirror to your peripheral vision. Make your own decision on what is right or not (it is your safety anyway). I prefer to have two small blind spots that can't fit a cyclist in either of them than one larger that can fit a small car.
- Dylan16807 5y ago
  > I prefer to have two small blind spots that can't fit a cyclist in either of them than one larger that can fit a small car. And I'd rather have only one small blind spot, while being better able to judge where things in my side mirror are relative to my car. And this wouldn't require a big change to the mirror, only a quite small one, if that diagram is accurate. Also, the field of view shouldn't be so narrow that a 4 degree tilt makes a blind spot too big (my head moves more than that all the time!).