05 blind spots
 

I hear about the 05 having serious blind spots but I have to admit I have no concerns about this. I ONLY use my mirrors for lane changes, and it's been at least 10 years since I performed a shoulder check. There are two reasons I do not shoulder check, the first is a race car driver filled me in on proper placement of the mirrors eliminates the need to perform a shoulder check. The second is witnessing a chap perform the shoulder check heading in downtown Calgary and failing to notice traffic had stopped all of a sudden. You can guess what happened. I have witnessed many close calls over the years to boot. Just wanted peoples opinion on the shoulder check. :)

in my car I don't so much.. as you are low and if your mirrors are adjusted right you can see without having a blind spot..

I have the quarter panel slightly in my view.. so between the side mirrors and the rear mirror, they all fill in the missing spots..



However, In the Work Van.. I do tend to look over to just make sure there isn't a bike sneaking up or hiding on me..

( when I had my lifted truck, I had to look all the time, if there was car beside me, you wouldn't see it ! :LOL: )

I shoulder check on driver side most of the time, sometimes it's not necessary too (change in speed, etc.) Pass side I just flick my eyes to the right for a millisecond (while checking mirror) to make sure they aren't any motorcycles there.

I find most people my age (17) WAAAYYY over due the shoulder check thing and actually look behind the pilar beside the seat.

That's probably because of drivers ed :banghead: :banghead: with the young folk I mean. I used to do it as that's how I was taught.

I shoulder check every time for a couple of reasons. First, it's become a habit that was initially instilled in me by my driving instructer. It is a very quick and easy thing to do and I have never lost sight of what was happening in front of me by doing it. If you drive into someone because of doing a shoulder check you were driving to damn close to them to begin with. The second reason I do them is because I've been riding motorcyles since I was 16 and tooooo many time have morons almost plowed into me because they've failed to perform a check. I will never make that a possibility for a fellow rider.

As far as the 05s are concerned I just read an article in MM&FF about the 05 convertible....they claim this car is one of the best, if not the best convertible they've driven in regards to blind spots. If that is true I can't imagine the coupes being all that bad.

i sometime shoulder check and sometimes not. i dunno.

What about the theory of proper MIRROR placement dictates no need for a shoulder check :tup With my mirrors properly placed I can see ALL motorist quite easily. I know that road racers do not perform shoulder checks and the accidents usually occur in the braking zone not on a straight away. Just my thoughts :cheers:

I'm a (former) racer, and agree with Paul on the lack of need for shoulder checks, if the mirrors are adjusted properly. Kind of tough to do one anyway, when you're wearing a helmet, and are strapped in with a 5 or 6 point harness. So it really sucked for me when the inside rear-view mirror fell off the windshield of my friend's Mustang about 10 minutes after the start of the race, many years back. :LOL:

This past Friday I finally drove an 05 GT coupe, and had no trouble setting up the mirrors to my liking. Don't see it being an issue in these cars, unless your physique or seating position cause a problem.


cheers
Ed N.

I did the BMW Driver Training Level 1 course last fall and one main thing I got out of it was the mirror placement. It is true that the way most people are taught to position the mirrors (so you see the side of the car) makes blind spots and causes many overlap spots.
And we are all taught from drivers ed, so use shoulder checks - I'd only assume to compensate for the blind spots you are making. :)

Pushing the mirrors out slightly (away from the car) allows those blind spots and overlap to disappear. Now the rearview mirror, gives you just that, the rear - the side mirrors give you the side. They had a nifty little slideshow demostration. :)

I wouldnt really recommend going and trying this unless someone shows you. But I personally found it really helpful. Took me about a week of every day driving to get totally comfortable with the new angle and trust what I am seeing is what is there. A little while longer on the smaller mirrors on the Cobra.

As for shoulder checks... I find with my daily driver, that the panels between the front and rear doors (umm... forget which pillars they are) cause a blind spot for me. I know it is all from seat positioning.

Moving the mirrors out have saved me many times. One time a sport bike was beside me in my "blind spot" and even when I did a shoulder check, to the right, I still couldn't see him. He was in a total blind spot from my car - especially cuz he was much lower down. The mirror saw him without a problem.

this is easy to solve - get an 05 Drop Top :) j/k

I have heard these claims of not needing to do shoulder checks because of the way you align your mirrors....I don't believe it, especially with the tiny mirrors on the mustang. I've driven trucks with huge ass mirrors with the addition of those little convex mirrors to help you see more and have still found that there is always a potential blind spot.
Everyone can do what they want, but for me when it comes to damaging my car because i changed lanes without a shoulder check or worse, kill a person because of it I'll just spend the half second it takes to glance over and make sure nothing is there.

Actually, that's what I forgot to mention... in the daily driver, it has huge a$$ mirrors, so it is much easier to do.

I do still find myself doing shoulder checks - especially on the highway to make sure the guy isnt changing into the same lane.

I didn't mean to advocate not doing shoulder checks if you change the mirrors, but with my personal experience and the huge mirrors, it has defintely helped increase my view of the road behind me.

It would seem to me that while you are performing that short shoulder check something in front could just as easily happen as not, referring to not doing a check and hitting something to the side. If the mirrors are positioned properly you generally do not have to check but with your eyes to the right or left what's happening in front of you. You might say it only takes a second and your right, something could happen in front of you, bam. With my mirrors postioned the way they are I can see 180 degrees. Not bad. I can also see what is going on in front. Unless you are racing there is no need to pull out to pass in an aggressive manner. When coming up on slower traffic on the highway you could always plan ahead etc for your move. Just a thougt from an experienced highway, interstate driver :cheers:

I've been driving back and forth from waterloo to kingsville on an average of once a week for the past 5 years....that gives me a lot of hwy experience in my opinion. IF something were to jump right out in front of me while I was doing a quick shoulder check I probably wouldn't have time to avoid it anyway, but at the same time, like you said it revolves around planning ahead, there are times you wouldn't make a lane change because there is a lot happening around and something jumping out is a possibility, but if you know you're going to change lanes and plan it properly the chances of something "jumping out" infront of you is very minimal.

We each have our own style and both for what seem like good reasons to us. All I know is that this summer if you hit me on my bike because you didn't check to make sure it was clear you'll feel pretty stupid and I'll be really pissed off or dead...

Valid point. You should be safe as I put a total of 20kms per week on the 05gt :laughhard

20 clicks....what a shame, that thing was meant to be driven and driven hard. you planning on making any mods to it?

I think why they still teach shoulder checking is that in the old days alot of cars only had one or no side mirrors at all making shoulder checking a must. I would guess they just didnt eliminate still teaching new drivers to shoulder check. :deal:

no the :shakeit: y still teach it.

Hey stock865.0 I am thinking of a lowering kit, some exhaust work and some slightly wider tires. For me personally it is all about wax on wax off :banghead:

paul...bassani! its all i gotta say in the wya of exhaust on 05's

I haven't drove an 05 yet to know. I do know theres more blind spots in my 99 stang then my 90 stang. The windows were bigger in the early 90s models. I mostly use my mirrors.

i dont have any blind spots, converts rock! :tup

I believe in shoulder checking before changine lanes. You can have the mirrors adjusted as best you can but you will still have blind spots. A quick check either way will avoid the dreaded idiot motorist driving in your BS.

It's also a good idea to be aware of what and who is around you at all times when driving, this holds very true on long road trips when you have others in the car and you're conversing with them or something a vehicle could casually sneak up on you in another lane without you being aware of it, a shoulder check here would avoid a potential disaster if you were to change lanes.

In a racing situation shoulder checking is usually not possible as mentioned by Ed. N. (hi, remember me??) :) therefore it is even more important to be aware of who is where on the track in relation to where you are and where you want to be.

Tony

I do not have any blind spots with my mirrors positioned properly. I have a 180 degree field of view. Doing a shoulder check on the 401 to me is risky and this is the reason. While you are performing your quick shoulder check the traffic comes to a grinding halt. Oh oh bam and you meet the rear end of the car in front of you. No thanks. :cheers: If you are on the highway and you hit someone while pulling out to pass I would say that whoever is driving is an incompetent idiot and should not hold a valid drivers licence. MIRROR PLACEMENT, MIRROR PLACEMENT, MIRROR PLACEMENT! :tup

Hey Tony!! Of course I remember you ... how's things going? I still recall you helping me to change the rad in my Mustang at Shannonville in the pouring rain, after giving me a ride into Belleville to pick up the replacement. :)

You make a valid point, that I should have mentioned in my post. A big part of driving is being aware of what's going on around you. The proper mirror settings will not work if you're not paying attention to the movements of the other vehicles around you. I can get a chuckle just about any time I'm driving on a busy multi-lane highway like the 401 ... looking ahead and around, I notice potential "situations" developing between other vehicles, and the drivers in those vehicles aren't even aware of it yet. :rolleyes:


cheers
Ed N.

Not to start an argument Paul but you shouldn't be doing a shoulder check when changing lanes if traffic decides to come to a "grinding halt" as you put it.

Part of driving safe is anticipating what traffic and other motorists are doing, will be doing and adjust accordingly. Obviously shoulder checking when traffic is coming to a standstill wouldn't be the best choice but if you anticipated it (by looking ahead and seeing what is happening ahead of you) you would have been able to easily do your check and make the lane change.

Ed, you have a better memory than me!!!! :LOL: :LOL: I wasn't sure if you got me mixed up with someone else but the more I thought about it I seemed to remember that. Yeah those were neat times running Solo 1 when we both had Stangs. :biggrin:

Returning again to the topic at hand, most side mirrors on today's vehicles are designed more for aerodynamics than actual visual usage. Sizing is usually an issue with today's slimmer and sleeker designs which can hamper the amount of visual information avail. for the driver. There will always be blind spots somewhere that the best positioned mirrors can't see even if you adjust them to your best liking. Again using the senses avail. to us (peripheral and direct vision, hearing and instinct) you can make a better judgment as to what you wish to do while driving your vehicle.

Tony

Not to argue but while doing a shoulder
check traffic MAY all of a SUDDEN come to a halt, for instance if a dog or child runs across the road. That's completely UNEXPECTED. My chances of seeing the child are much better than a shoulder checker. Whilst you are doing your check BAM. I have personally driven over 1,000,000 kms and with PROPER MIRROR placement I DO NOT HAVE ANY BLIND SPOTS in my 05Gt. I have driven in Chicago L.A. San Fran Seattle Detroit San Diego, Cinci, T.O. well everwhere and you guessed it, no shoulder checks. I PERSONALLY have witnessed more close calls while people are shoulder checking than I care to count. But hey everyone has there own style. Peace :cheers: < Don't drink and drive

I said this earlier and I'llsay it again. If you run into the person in front of you because you didn't see them slam on the brakes during a quick shoulder check then you were driving TOO DAMN CLOSE to begin with. If an animal or small child (how the child got on to the 401 is hard to imagine) runs right out in front of you there isn't much you're going to be able to do about it anyway whether shoulder checking or not. What you can do with a car while going 120kph in 401 traffic is a whole heck of a lot. Besides, if you were a good driver and saw the child up ahead you would have either made your lane change before you got to it or you will do it after you pass them just so that you can keep your eye on them.

Hey do not forget that the odd child that flys off an overpass with the help of an idiot of a father. I just figure my mirrors are not put on for decorative purposes and indeed they are quite functional. I am glad they came with the car. :tup

I agree, my morrors are quite functional too. That is why my shoulder check is so quick....it's just a quick glance at the small blind spot left by the mirrors :)

As for a child getting dropped off an over pass by daddy...if the fall doesn't kill her someone prolly isn' going to have time to stop or swerve if daddy did it right. Coudl you imagine getting dropped off an overpass, hit by a car, and still living???? Ow ow ow...

Are you getting the idea this could go on forever :laughhard Hey get to the market :cheers:

i too went through driver training.. and occasionallky check my shoulders.. its just a second chance look before doing a lane change.. as well as when turnnig a corner last thing i need is to hit a biker, or pedestrayin...

I have always had my mirrors adjusted way out so there is no overlap.. i never liked setting itu p to just be able to see the side so i adjusted it to how it made sence in my eyes... however in my capri it has manual mirrors and they just dont go out far enough do to the mechanisms in the mirrors... so i'm stuck wiht the overlap and blindspots...

It could...I'm glad there's no animosity building up because of it lol.

I'm still stuck in Stratford....will be moving back to windsor at summer's end but not yet. If I'm ever down on a thursday night I will come by for sure.

Good good :cheers:

My father taught me how to properly check the side blind spots without compromising safety up front. I adjust my sideview mirrors so that you can barely see the very rear of the vehicle. Then, when I have to make a lane change, instead of looking over my should I lean forward and because of the angle I have a wider view to the sides. This has saved me many times from changing into someone, because as Stock865.0 said we have some small freakin sideview mirrors. I find this works better than over the shoulder.
SS