Am I the only one stuck that gets blinded by headlights in my sideview mirror at night? I know that some company called Gentex has electrochromatic mirrors that dim automatically, but my dealer told me today that I will have to buy a new car to get it - no way to retrofit it on my car.
Has anyone else had this problem? How serious is this - I've almost had an accident myself last night! - is this actually significant at night for you guys too? Is there an aftermarket solution that could help me? Has anyone retrofitted something on their own that I might make at home (it better look reasonable on my car, though!)? Any suggestions?
Maybe if enough of us bug we can JCWhitney or Autozone to carry something... or am I out to lunch? (I called both and they don't have anything).
snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Andrew) sprach im news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:
Are you aiming the thing like a second rear-view mirror?
If you can see the side of your own car in your outside mirrors, they're aimed WRONG.
They are NOT there to duplicate your rear-view mirror, they are there to allow you to see in your blind spots, which are between the areas covered by your peripheral vision and your rear-view mirror. If they are properly aimed, you will not see any headlight glare in them unless the car next to you has poorly aimed headlights.
To properly aim your outside mirrors, follow this procedure:
1) Go to a parking lot
2) Park, nose out, in a spot with all other spots nearby occupied
3) While normally seated, adjust your LEFT hand outside mirror so that you can see the grille of the car behind you, to the LEFT.
4) Do the opposite for the RIGHT outside mirror.
If properly adjusted, you will not be able to see the side of your car even if you put your head right on your window glass.
Now let's check your work. Go for a drive. You are in the RIGHT lane.
1) As you pass the car on your LEFT, you will see it in your peripheral vision
2) As it begins to leave your peripheral vision, it will begin to appear in your side mirror
3) As it begins to leave your side mirror, it should begin to appear in your REAR VIEW mirror.
There will be some overlap as the vehicle on your left is visible in two locations. Now repeat this, in opposite, for the right-hand mirror.
If you observe all of the above, congratulations! you have properly aimed your mirrors. If you do NOT observe exactly this, re-adjust your mirrors until the vehicle to the side is ALWAYS visible in one location or another at all times.
This happens when there is someone in the left lane behind you that is being a duckling, and will not pass.
2 solutions:
Move into the left lane too, stay there, force them to pass on the right if they _ever do_ pass. Meanwhile, their lights disappear from your left outside mirror.
Hold hand between left outside mirror and your eyes. Works every time, costs nothing.
In a previous posting, Dave Head snipped-for-privacy@att.net had the audacity to say:
:Move into the left lane too, stay there, force them to pass on the right if :they _ever do_ pass. Meanwhile, their lights disappear from your left outside :mirror. : :Hold hand between left outside mirror and your eyes. Works every time, costs :nothing. : :I've used both.
That's 'cause you're an evil LLB. As Brent put it, "MFFY". But we've been down that thread at least once before already.
Yeah, its called "looking out for #1". If assholes didn't come up and sit in my blind spot, refuse to pass, generally be flaming pains in the ass from behind, I _might_ not do it as often. But they do, and I do, and nothin's gonna change.
If they weren't doing it to the original poster too, then he wouldn't have this situation for very long. But, they're sitting in his left rear as well, not passing, and... being flaming pains in the ass. If he decides to pull to the left to mitigate the situation, then they only have themselves to blame for the result. And they can pass _him_ on _his_ right, too - if they ever decide to pass, which is unlikely.
Dave Head snipped-for-privacy@att.net wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Personally, I like to find another, slower LLB, and use them as a "fender cleaner." The duckling has to pass them in order to keep up, and if he tries, I just "duckling" on the slow LLB for a bit until the original one gets fed up.
U need to drive in Virginia for a while. Ducklings all over the place. Yeah, I get 'em a _lot_. Hardly anyone passes here - if they're going faster than you and catch you, they _usually_ slow down and pace you with their front bumper even with your rear.
I think it has to do with big, 4-lane 55 mph roads that _almost everyone_ drives at 63 - 65. If someone driving 67 catches someone driving 65, they all know how far over the limit they are, and the slightly-faster guy decides there's strength in numbers and slows to 65, figuring it doubles his chances of _not_ getting a ticket since the cop is unlikely to chase 2 people at the same time.
Now, if they'd just do it from 200 feet back, everything would be OK. But no - they have to come up even with my rear bumper and just sit there. Not only does it screw up some of my escape routes for deer in the road (there's LOTS and LOTS of deer here) but of course we will both catch the guy that is going slower in the right lane. Then I have to decelerate, then the duckling will too, and I get trapped at a new, lower speed.
If I drive in the left lane, I then have the right lane to swerve into if there's a deer. Plus, if the duckling tries to follow on the right side at bumper distance, the odd person going slower in the right lane gets caught, I pass 'em, and the duckling has to deal with the obstacle, not me.
And that's why this situation is going to continue.
Not sure I understand this part. Are you saying you form a rolling roadblock with the LLB by keeping station to his right, preventing Bright Boy from passing? If so, isn't he still behind you in the left lane with his brights on?
Mike Z. Helm snipped-for-privacy@not.known sprach im news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
That's just a start to see how far off they are. Then I said to check your aim by driving and adjust as necessary.
The cars beside you must always be visible at all times either in your peripheral vision or in one of the mirrors without moving your head more than necessary to see the mirror itself.
If the car on either side of your car is visible at all times in one mirror or the other no matter where it is in that lane, then your mirrors are aimed correctly.
If the other car disappears during the transition from mirror to mirror, or from peripheral to mirror, and you need to turn your head to see it, then they are aimed wrong.
I also checked my own instructions this morning, and discover I made a small mistake: It seems that with my mirrors aimed this way, I can see the side of my car with my head about two inches away from the glass, not when my head is touching the glass.
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