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Blind Spot Patch

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Mary Snyder, Dec 4, 2006.

  1. Mary Snyder

    Mary Snyder New Member

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    Does anyone know where to buy those stickon patches for the sideview mirrors? I think they might be a good idea, as you will be able to see the rearview corners of your car without obstructing the rest of the view in your side view mirrors.
    Mary

     
  2. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    If you adjust your mirrors out a little further, you won't need the stick-ons. There's really no need to see the corners of your car, it's the vehicles beside and a little behind you that count.
     
  3. seasalsa

    seasalsa Active Member

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  4. JimboK

    JimboK One owner, low mileage

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Dec 4 2006, 08:53 PM) [snapback]357717[/snapback]</div>
    Personal preference, but there are reasons for keeping outside mirrors adjusted to see the rear corners of your car. During backing it allows you to know exactly where your car is in relation to adjacent vehicles and structures. (I back into parking spaces when I can to avoid backing out; it's safer.) On the road, it gives an additional view of the traffic behind you. Adjusting them too far out may create a blind spot where you might miss, for example, a motorcycle changing lanes or riding close to the line.

    I've driven trucks, including emergency vehicles, for years. I consider it essential in those vehicles to have maximal visibility of the sides of my vehicle for backing and close quarter manuevering. The habit of adjusting my mirrors accordingly, and using blind spot mirrors, carries over to driving a car. Blind spot mirrors were one of the first mods I added to my car.

    Mary, as to your question: You can find them in any auto parts store or the automotive section of K-Mart or Wal-Mart for a dollar or two apiece.
     
  5. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Dec 5 2006, 07:07 AM) [snapback]357871[/snapback]</div>
    I agree. That's why I love electric mirrors. I can bring them in when I'm backing in and then crank them back out when I'm done.

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Dec 5 2006, 07:07 AM) [snapback]357871[/snapback]</div>
    I disagree on this point. In the first place, the motorcycle got there somehow. I'm sure that if taking a picture, you might be able to position a motorcycle in such a way and angle the camera just right in order to not see the motorcycle. However, if making a movie, I don't think you could get the motorcycle in that position without it being visible for quite some time much less holding it there for any length of time. I know that if you move your head (movie camera) just the slightest bit you get a whole new perspective. Additionally, I know that changing lanes without looking over your shoulder - regardless of mirror angle - is reckless. Finally, I've yet to have a motorcycle hanging off my back quarter-panel and not been able to hear it.

    For maximum visibility, you should be able to track object from one mirror to another seamlessly; when they run off one mirror they should be picked up by another. The only exception is when they are passing in which case, the move off the left edge of the side-view mirror and become visible through the side window.
     
  6. curtissac

    curtissac New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Dec 5 2006, 08:07 AM) [snapback]357871[/snapback]</div>
    I too drove emergency vehicles and trucks for quite a while. I just gave up my CDL for medical reasons last year (driving trucks was never my primary job so it was no bog deal). In the other thread referenced in this one, someone said "...accept the fact that no one has ever lost their rear quarter panels while driving so there is no need to look at them."

    They have never driven a large vehicle in close quarters. Which does not necessarily mean a parking lot. Most people have never driven 40' foot buses or pulled 48' trailers. And perhaps they don't park their Priuses in the Packard Children's Hospital parking garage which is amazingly tight - even for a Prius.

    I have dark tinted rear windows on my Prius. Even before the tint was installed, for the first few days I had the car, I found the visibility through the rear window to be so annoying that I ignore it. I leave my side mirrors adjusted so that I can just see the sides of the car. This gives me enough visibility of things behind me that I could rip the mirror down from the windshield and never notice.

    I have one of the little wide angle mirrors on my left mirror. It is useful. (I got it at Kragen for $2.99 for the orginal poster in this thread). A little round one placed on the outboard edge of your side mirror allows you to see your rear tire. Helpful for negotiating around curbs, children on big wheels, etc. The one I have is only about an inch around and covers the blind spot.

    All of the techniques for alligning mirrors does not take the place of what you are supposed to do when changing lanes. Every driver handbook and driver ed teacher probably told you the same thing. You're supposed to turn your head and look. Even if you adjust your mirrors so you can see tha rear of your car, turning your head eliminates any "blind spot" in the spot in the Prius.
     
  7. daveleeprius

    daveleeprius Heh heh heh you think so?

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    I always wonder why people deride the rear view in the Prius. Those people haven't ever driven a Dodge Caravan or Ford minivan before. Even with the split view in the Prius, I find it a better view than a minivan by far. Think about it, the Prius is pretty much a wagon with nice styling, the way I see it anyway.

    Nothing can beat the windows in my old 1991 Honda Civic Wagon. It got 40mpg or close to it all the time and had the best forward and rearward view of any car I've owned. Had to sell it when we bought the Prius, as the wife needed an auto trans in the second car.

    Dave
     
  8. JimboK

    JimboK One owner, low mileage

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Dec 5 2006, 09:00 AM) [snapback]357878[/snapback]</div>
    Not long after I learned to drive and before I got in the habit of adjusting my mirrors as I described, I almost hit a motorcycle, losing it in my mirrors as I changed lanes. At one point it was in view in the inside mirror, and a few seconds later it was out of sight in all mirrors. I figured he had turned off. Instead, in the instant before I last checked my mirrors, he had abruptly accelerated and started to change lanes to pass me. I saw him only after I began my lane change, simultaneously glancing over my shoulder. He was dangerously close to the white line and my car as he began his pass, but he was technically in his own lane, so it likely would have been considered my fault.

    Checking one's mirrors seems more analagous to a series of multiple snapshots rather than a movie. You're not watching them continuously, so there will be missing frames.
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Dec 5 2006, 09:00 AM) [snapback]357878[/snapback]</div>
    Agreed. But redundancy is good. Besides, some with chronic neck problems don't have the range of motion of someone who's healthy.
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Dec 5 2006, 09:00 AM) [snapback]357878[/snapback]</div>
    A Harley, probably. A Honda Gold Wing with your windows up, maybe not.
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Dec 5 2006, 09:00 AM) [snapback]357878[/snapback]</div>
    Agreed again. And that's my original point: adjusting side-view mirrors out too far may create a blind spot between the views provided by the two mirrors. To assure I don't miss anything, I like a slight overlap.

    Good discussion regardless. As I first said, it's personal preference. Mary can then decide for herself after hearing all views.
     
  9. NuShrike

    NuShrike Active Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Dec 5 2006, 02:19 PM) [snapback]358145[/snapback]</div>
    I have my mirror adjusted for minimal overlap. It helps a lot to get one of those Japanese aftermarket convex rear-view mirrors so your view is expansive before you have to deal with the overlap question.

    However, even with all that I still found a blind-spot on my left side which I corrected with a little triangular convex mirror in the bottom right of my left-mirror. I verify my view by having a friend walk around the edges of the rear of the Prius and I make sure I can keep the person in full view at all moments up until they're basically right next to me on either the left or right.

    I found my stuff in the local Japanese speed accessories shop. However, Autozone, Pepboys, etc should have it too.
     
  10. Mary Snyder

    Mary Snyder New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Dec 5 2006, 09:07 AM) [snapback]357871[/snapback]</div>
    Thanks so much Jimbok,
    I do have a Walmart and a K=Mart close by and will definitely get the blind spot mirrors. What you said was so helpful.
    Mary
     
  11. Mary Snyder

    Mary Snyder New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Masnyd @ Dec 5 2006, 11:34 PM) [snapback]358274[/snapback]</div>
    Thanks all you guys, I'm really learning a lot and if anybody else knows something about blindspots, please keep it coming.
    Mary
     
  12. curtissac

    curtissac New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveLeePrius @ Dec 5 2006, 03:54 PM) [snapback]358115[/snapback]</div>
    I have driven plenty of vehicles with no rear windows at all. :) I wasn't deriding the visibility. I don't really care about seeing out the back window. but you have to admit, if rear window visibility was an issue for someone, they might not like that aspect of the Prius. The piss poor view out the back window makes the ack up camera a valuable tool for any driver.
     
  13. Stev0

    Stev0 Honorary Hong Kong Cavalier

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    I also got one of those lil' convex mirrors (at Target for about two or three bucks) for my left mirror (my righthand side doesn't need it). I've been driving for 20+ years, and this is the first car I've had that I felt I needed one. I guess the designers thought what's behind us isn't important.
     
  14. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    What do you think about a 'wink'? They're a multi-panel rear view mirror that it said to eliminate blind spots. I remember a friend in high school having one, and it was great, but I have no idea if they are still available.
     
  15. curtissac

    curtissac New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Dec 5 2006, 11:30 PM) [snapback]358303[/snapback]</div>
    Perhaps old urban legend, but when I was in high school I recall people saying those things were illegal due to the obstruction of the front windshield. My recollection of those things would lead me to believe they would not be very easy to use in a Prius due to the extreme rake of the front glass. It would be like having a visor in front of you all the time.

    You know, also used to hear how it was illegal to drive without shoes and that you couldn't put more than two people in a Corevette. Both of those aren't true, so the "hoodwink" was probably OK too. I never knew anyone that got a ticket for any of them.
     
  16. aaf709

    aaf709 Ravenpaw of ThunderClan

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ Dec 5 2006, 08:30 PM) [snapback]358302[/snapback]</div>
    Last summer I saw a set that was on a stalk so it could be moved to a correct position. It was designed to go in the lower right side (on the driver's side and lower left on the passenger's side). It was $30 a set, which is why I didn't get it. :) I haven't found a problem since they're power and I can move them if I need to.