Proper mirror positioning in a car can save your life and the lives of others, but most drivers have not been taught how to adjust them correctly. Forget what your ol’ driving instructor from high school ( if you are old enough for that) taught you.

It would seem to reason that the back of the car will follow the direction of the front, right?  Since we already know that the back of the car is there, why the need to look at it? Most drivers have their outside rear view mirrors positioned so that when they look in the mirrors they can see the back of their own car. WHY? It is not going anywhere! Adjust the mirrors out, further than you think, so that you can see the lane next to you. This allows you to see if there is another car there. Yes, it sounds simple but you would be surprised how many drivers don’t do this or have never been taught how or why they should.

 Another problem occurs when mirrors are improperly adjusted, a driver must turn his or her head to see if the lane next to them is clear. The BIG problem here is that as a driver, your hands go where your eyes look. If while driving,  you look over your left shoulder for example, you will also have the tendency to turn left while you are looking. The car turns left BEFORE you can determine if the lane next to you is clear; too late!

 If you properly adjust your mirrors so that you can clearly see the lane next to your car AND if you are constantly  aware of everything that is happening around you, you will not have to turn your head to make a lane change. The key word here is awareness! The ONLY thing that we should be doing while driving is; DRIVING! If your mirrors are properly adjusted, you can sweep them with your eyes about every 8-10 seconds.  You will ALWAYS  know what is happening around you.  An added benefit is that no matter what you are driving, there will not be a blind spot.  Really, you say? Yup, no blind spot. Try this: Move both outside rear view mirrors out far enough so that if there were a car in the lane next to yours but just behind, you would see it; all of it.  Adjust the center rear view mirror for maximum rearward vision. Now….without moving your head but moving only your eyes, can you see 180 degrees around your car? If so, perfect! If not, make the needed adjustments so that you can. Again, you may need to move the outside rear view mirrors out further than you had originally thought.

Traveling at 70mph your car is covering 100 feet every second, knowing what is going on around you is pretty darn good information! Not being able to see what is happening around you at all times, limits that information and dangerously so.

Since most have us have not ever driven with our mirrors in the proper position, changing them to where they should have been all along will take some time getting used to. Bad habits are easily learned but hard to change. Here is the kicker though…just because you have finally  set your mirrors properly do not assume that anyone else has,  in fact,  most drivers mirrors are poorly adjusted at best. They cannot see you…just like you could not see them up until now…… 

Properly positioned, your rear view mirrors will allow you to see what you may have been missing, rather, almost hitting!