Do costly blind spot systems actually fix a problem that doesn't really exist?
Before automakers started equipping cars with all sorts of blinking lights and beeping telltales, there were still ways to mitigate blind spots, keep your following distance consistent, and generally avoid accidents. Of course, nobody is going to deny that the public at large seems only mildly interested in steering 3,500 pounds of automobile in between stints on the phone, so the addition of radar-sensing systems like Ford's BLIS or Infiniti's Lane Departure Warning at least reminds inattentive drivers that there's a world on the other side of the glass.
Ford's Steve Kozak, when quizzed about the necessity of blind spot detection systems by The New York Times' Christopher Jensen, concedes that if most drivers adjusted their rearview mirrors in the fashion suggested by engineer George Platzer in a 1995 SAE paper, there'd be virtually no need for BLIS. Platzer suggests leaning far to the left and right while adjusting the respective side mirrors, which should reduce or eliminate any blind spot issues altogether. The reality is, though, that most drivers need all the help they can get. Not only is Ford using the Volvo-developed BLIS, but it's also taken up another of Platzer's mirror ideas, the BlindZoneMirror, as seen on the Ford Edge.
While manufacturers are fitting cars with gadgetry that's little more than a thin panacea to the cancer of inattentive, poorly trained drivers, we want the warning horns going off inside that car drifting into our lane just the same.
[Source: New York Times]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Julius 2:09PM (8/20/2009)
I'm just waiting for that scene we see in "I Robot":
"What, are you crazy? You're driving in manual mode?"
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PJ 11:25PM (8/20/2009)
Ha, indeed.
Anyway, to answer the question ("Do costly blind spot systems... fix a problem that doesn't really exist?"): YES.
There is no such thing as a "blind spot" unless you aim your side mirrors at the back of the car, which only makes sense if think you need three rearview mirrors. Turn your wing mirrors out toward the sides (fully or near-fully on most cars), and objects passing alongside you will move from the rear view mirror, to the side mirror, to the windshield without interruption.
As a bonus, it's free.
akboss302 8:36AM (8/21/2009)
PJ, +1, my sentiments exactly! My frustration is that on a lot of new cars, and because its cool and efficient to 'bundle' options now, there is usually a myriad of this excess crap in the 'technology package' for $3K. Instead of just being able to get a nav system, you need to get rearview cameras, parking sensors, blind spot alert systems, smart cruise control, and best of all the 'lane departure alert system' --- are you kidding me!!!
inteller 10:07AM (8/28/2009)
well I took Platzer's advice and I'm sold. Now I'm on a crusade to show as many other people to do this too. I thought I had bad blind spots but in reality I don't.
Andrew 2:13PM (8/20/2009)
My thoughts exactly. I don't need them, but I want all those other morons to have them. Although I don't know if we want them to be mandatory, which drives up the price of a new car.
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ajkl 3:56PM (8/20/2009)
I'm sure once accident reports and insurance claim numbers show that they are useful in preventing accidents they will eventually become mandatory or your insurance will be higher if your car doesn't have them.
Benfolio 2:15PM (8/20/2009)
I've always used the correct method of adjusting my mirrors in every car I've owned and it works perfectly.
Basically you set the 3 mirrors so that as a car in the lane next to you passes you, when its headlights fall pass from view from one mirror, another picks it up.
Only issues I've found is motorcycles can still be somewhat hidden if they are in a very narrow zone, and you need to readjust the mirrors if you want to see where the curb (or how close the car next to you is) when parallel or close quarters parking.
But otherwise I always know when there is a car next to me, or how far away behind me it is.
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Dondonel 2:30PM (8/20/2009)
Setting the mirrors 'right' does not solve anything. You need all the visual information in one place, otherwise by the time you move your head from one mirror to the other a car can move in the blind spot.
Looking over the should is good but presents a big problem in that you don't see in front of you while looking over the shoulder. At highway speeds that can quickly become dangerous. So few people do it right that is more of a danger in itself than a safe driving practice.
Blind spot alarms are not good either. You don't visually see what's happening, so you still have to look over the shoulder when you eventually decide to change lanes. Another problem is that they are not reliable, false alarms and no warnings are common.
The only real solution to this is the split mirror that you find sometimes on trucks. It adds a mirror that compresses the field of view to the side or below the regular mirror. It completely removes the blind spot. It takes a while to adapt to it (for a week you can feel dizzy when you're using it), but after that changing lanes becomes much safer and faster. Unfortunately this type of mirrors are not offered (at least as options) in the other car segments.
josh 2:40PM (8/20/2009)
I too have been adjusting my mirror as described and it is more effective than even these blind spot systems.
When I was taught how to adjust my side mirrors outward it was succinctly put to me that the side of my car was going no where so I don't need to see it.
Das Borgen 2:48PM (8/20/2009)
please be wary of motorcycles
EXP Jawa 2:38PM (8/20/2009)
Dondonel,
I think the point that you're missing is that when the mirrors are aimed like described, there isn't a blind spot for the car behind you to move into when you move your head. The image at the inner edge of the side mirrors lines up with the outer edges of the center mirror. By the time the car has moved to outer edges of the side mirrors, it's now in your peripheral vision (unless your car has tiny mirrors). It is never in a spot you can't see.
I've been doing this for years as well and can testify that it works as long as you have a three-mirror system. For towing or carrying cargo that blocks the center mirror, then you need the split-mirror arrangement that you describe.
James Sonne 3:00PM (8/20/2009)
Posting as another driver with correctly aimed side-view mirrors. Adjust your mirrors correctly and your blindspot will be so far behind your car that it has no affect on your ability to change lanes. And really, who out there is not paying enough attention to the traffic around them to not know when a car is near them? If they're not paying that much attention, they shouldn't be driving.
Benfolio 3:10PM (8/20/2009)
I had it beat... I mean, TRAINED into me as a young'n to always periodically glance in the mirrors so I knew who was around me at all times. It makes those instances where you HAVE no time to look before swerving less risky.
Plus with the mirrors set correctly your peripheral vision will pick up on alot more than if they weren't.
Redline 3:36PM (8/20/2009)
It's called Situational Awareness. You have to check your mirrors constantly so that you know who is around you and where at any given time. And if a quick shoulder check puts you in danger of running into the person in front of you, then maybe you should increase your following distance.
Rocketboy 3:44PM (8/20/2009)
Spot mirrors work just fine for me. Although they stink late at night, or in bad weather (snow/fog). But the rest of the time not only do they eliminate blind spots, but I can also see curbs and stripes when I'm backing into a spot.
Kitko 3:53PM (8/20/2009)
In Europe, most if not all cars have split driver side rearview mirror, the outer edge is convex-shape and while it slightly distorts the image, it reduces the "blind spot" or "dead angle". I haven't been paying attention to that here in the White North, but the cars I've driven here didn't have that feature.....
skzzilla 5:12PM (8/20/2009)
I never understood why split mirrors aren't common on passenger cars and light trucks - it seems pretty inexpensive, low-tech and effective.
What is the down side?
Bert 2:15PM (8/20/2009)
No, these systems just further lobotomize drivers. If you don't have time to check your blind-spot then you have no time to change lane. If you absolutely have to change lane (accident avoidance) you are not going to check the blind-spot anyways, be it visually or virtually.
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KingRocky 2:18PM (8/20/2009)
I've been telling people for YEARS that they've all got their mirrors turned in too far - resulting in lots of unnecessary head swiveling when they want to change lanes.
I set my mirrors this way: Driving down the highway, I watch for a car behind me in the rearview mirror that will eventually overtake my car. I adjust the side view mirrors so that as the car is LEAVING the view of the rear view mirror, it is JUST APPEARING in the side view mirror. That way, I have the widest possible continuous field of view.
People have been trained to use their side-view mirrors as rear view mirrors - which is incorrect.
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tblack 2:26PM (8/20/2009)
In total agreement. I've been setting my side mirrors like that for the past twenty years, and haven't sideswiped a family of five into the ditch yet.
The other issue, at least for automotive enthusiasts, is that these systems pollute the roadways with more false radar alarms.