Originally Posted by RayCJ
It would be easier to convince people to try the 'Wider View' method if it was presented as "An Alternate Technique". Telling someone they are doing something wrong after they've been doing it for a few decades, tends to put people on the defensive.
FWIW: "The Common Way" is very handy when parallel parking next to a curb. It's also very handy when driving in bad neighborhoods because you can see if someone (aka carjacker) is walking-up on you from the side. On the road, the 'Wide View' has strong advantages and I switched to it 15-20 years ago when I took a performance driving class.
Ray
Ya I agreem but people are stubborn especially if that was the way they "were taught". For my generation I think it boils down to drivers education. We were always taught to rotate our heads in order to look for vehicles in the blind spot rather than using our side mirrors in such a way where we only have to glance to the left or right to see if there's a vehicle next to you. I think, at the time, it was easier because B and C pillars weren't as thick as they are today.
My wife refuses to set her mirrors properly, yet she constantly complains that she can't see vehicles who might be in the passenger side blind spot laying blame on the manufacturer of her car for making the c-pillar so thick. It's ridiculous, not to mention unsafe, to watch her have to perform a complete head turn to see if there's a car in her blind spot. The whole process takes her 2-3 seconds which is an eternity on a busy intra-urban highway.
Of course with my mirrors set "wider", I'm in the wrong and make her freak out since she thinks that because i don't perform the 90 degree+ head/body turn that I don't know if a car is in my blind spot.
It would be easier to convince people to try the 'Wider View' method if it was presented as "An Alternate Technique". Telling someone they are doing something wrong after they've been doing it for a few decades, tends to put people on the defensive.
FWIW: "The Common Way" is very handy when parallel parking next to a curb. It's also very handy when driving in bad neighborhoods because you can see if someone (aka carjacker) is walking-up on you from the side. On the road, the 'Wide View' has strong advantages and I switched to it 15-20 years ago when I took a performance driving class.
Ray
Ya I agreem but people are stubborn especially if that was the way they "were taught". For my generation I think it boils down to drivers education. We were always taught to rotate our heads in order to look for vehicles in the blind spot rather than using our side mirrors in such a way where we only have to glance to the left or right to see if there's a vehicle next to you. I think, at the time, it was easier because B and C pillars weren't as thick as they are today.
My wife refuses to set her mirrors properly, yet she constantly complains that she can't see vehicles who might be in the passenger side blind spot laying blame on the manufacturer of her car for making the c-pillar so thick. It's ridiculous, not to mention unsafe, to watch her have to perform a complete head turn to see if there's a car in her blind spot. The whole process takes her 2-3 seconds which is an eternity on a busy intra-urban highway.
Of course with my mirrors set "wider", I'm in the wrong and make her freak out since she thinks that because i don't perform the 90 degree+ head/body turn that I don't know if a car is in my blind spot.