Keep your Diesel safe and scratch free.... Adjust the inside mirror to see behind you as usual, put your head on the driver side window and adjust The driver side mirror so you can just see the side of your car. Put you head in the middle of the car and adjust the passenger side mirror so you can just see the side of your car. Now notice when you drive down the highway you will first see the car behind you in the inside mirror just before you lose sight of it in that mirror you will begin to see it in the side mirror, then just before you lose sight of it in the side mirror you will see it out of the corner of your eye. There will be NO BLIND SPOT AT ALL. The mirror inside the car is the ONLY mirror for looking behind you. The side mirrors are for checking on what is on the SIDE you.

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1999 E300 TurboDiesel
2007 Ford Explorer limited
1981 John Deere 650 Diesel tractor

A great point-remember, you should have almost no overlap in what your mirrors show you. Maybe a small bit for reference, but no more.

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"If everything seems under control, you're simply not going fast enough" --Mario Andretti

Michael
1995 E500 street car
1986 Porsche 944 Turbo S track car

There was an article on this subject in the latest Roundel, and you are right. Like a lot of others, I have not been using the outside mirrors correctly for years now, particularly the passenger's side mirror.

Most people have them adjusted way too far inwards. Like the article said, if you can come even close to seeing your outside door handles in the mirrors, they are adjusted too far inwards.

I experimented with the method that you describe, and found that it really does work! No blind spots.

You can do a little testing on the road to see that it works, and fine tune the adjustment.

It was a great help to me, esp. in the MB, which has much larger blind spots than the more upright and "glassy" cars that I am used to driving.

While I understand the logic of this suggestion, and I have seen it all over the internet recently, even being suggested by big insurance companies like Liberty Mutual, I can't help but see a few problems.

1. The side view mirrors on buses and trucks are the ONLY mirrors for seeing what's behind those vehicles. The drivers of these vehicles must rely on these mirrors to see what's behind them, as well as what's next to them.

2. Backing up into any confined space is considerably less safe and more difficult with your mirrors adjusted that far out, and not showing you the sides of your vehicle, and whatever low level hazards might be there.

3. There are small wide angle mirrors that can be attached to your existing mirrors to clear up those blind spots without sacrificing the ability to see the sides of your vehicle.

4. Use your neck! If you begin to trust your mirrors without turning your head to make a visual affirmation, you aren't driving safely, and will have a big surprise someday when you change lanes. In fact, not looking directly to either side when changing lanes can cost you points off your driver's test at most DMV's...

I adjust my mirrors in to show just a hint of the rear and sides of the vehicle, and down to show maximum traffic, and minimum sky while allowing a lower level view of poyential hazards. But most importantly, don't drive in the blind spots that you know exist for other drivers, and if you find yourself in another driver's blind spot, adjust your position in traffic.

Finally, there's this problem...

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Scott Longston
Northern California Wine Country...
"Turbos whistle, grapes wine..."

that we could happily disagree on!! I can't see any reason in the world to use the outside mirrors to "verify" what I am seeing in the inside mirror. I have run like this for years without any "backing up" problem. When in the reverse mode I always look back before putting the gear selector into reverse and have yet to run over any of the young'uns bicycles, etc... I use my neck to turn around and look before backing

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Jim