Okay...try This With Your Sideviews.

[NSTG8R]

I spent years in trucks with no inside rear view. Setting mirrors as suggested above gives no view straight behind you in that circumstance.

I'll leave my mirrors with a sliver of body visible, and check my blind spots. It's worked for me for over 25 years now.

Of course, with good driving habits, you already know a vehicle is there. It shouldn't be a suprise that another car is alongside you. They just don't beam down, yet.

Sounds like a good reason to have a 'full-time' rearview camera installed in the Elio, with a monitor mounted in the rearview mirror position [maybe with a fish-eye lens on the camera]. You could get away with adjusting the sideviews out that way. Don't want to be playing 'bumper cars' with something the size of the Elio for sure.

 

[goofyone]

I spent years in trucks with no inside rear view. Setting mirrors as suggested above gives no view straight behind you in that circumstance.

I'll leave my mirrors with a sliver of body visible, and check my blind spots. It's worked for me for over 25 years now.

Of course, with good driving habits, you already know a vehicle is there. It shouldn't be a suprise that another car is alongside you. They just don't beam down, yet.

You can choose to drive the way you are used to and comfortable with and I hope it continues working out for you the way it has until now. However I do also have to point out that you are presenting an apple to oranges comparison of two different driving situations and as a result the ideal driving habit for each is not the same.

In the case of a vehicle with only the outside mirrors being usable a driver is essentially forced to pick the best solution to the blind spot problem as there will be a blind spot or spots no matter how the mirrors are configured. I have driven many miles this way hauling trailers across the country and it simply is what it is.

In the case of most vehicles with both outside mirrors and an inside rear view mirror there is no need to even have blind spots at all as the mirrors can be configured in such a way to eliminate this issue. Driving without blind spots is of course the safer driving habit and this is why drivers education programs have been teaching young drivers how to do this for over 15 years now. The technique is called Blind-Spot Glare Elimination (BGE).

 

[CheeseheadEarl]

G1, I agree that it's not a direct comparison, and I mighta came across a little harsh this morning. Long nights at work do that to me now and again.

But in my case, I spent so much time in big trucks that I barely remember the inside rearview is there, unless there's a pair of high beams in my eyes from it. I did try that technique the last time it was mentioned here, it didn't work for me. To each their own I guess. Sometimes old dogs really don't like learning new tricks..

Heck, if we could get half the people on the road with us to pay attention to anything more than straight ahead to the car in front of them, driving would be a lot easier.

 

[Jeff Porter]

One interesting discussion topic for side-view-mirror-only vehicles, such as the Elio... I drove recently on the Interstate for 3 hrs, and it was about 15 degrees outside with warm highway, and snowing. I looked at my side-view mirrors, and I could hardly see them through the side windows. The splash-up from the road and from vehicles you pass was getting up to the side windows (and side mirrors) and freezing, and that ice is dirty at that point. At that temp, as long as the road was wet or it was snowing, could not really use the side-view mirrors.

I suppose necessity will be the mother of invention, but in the Elio, we'll have to try bringing the window down and back up, to see if that will help. May have to stop occasionally and wipe off both window and side-mirror with paper towels. So for inner contents in the trunk, in addition to an ice scraper and jumper cables, may need a small bottle of window cleaner and some paper towels. For commuters in cities that get snow and have no backup camera, this might be a real issue.

Yes, Rain-x certainly is an option too, not sure if the frozen dirty water in -25 degree wind chill at 75 mph would stay or go on a side window treated with Rain-X.

Comments from all y'all in Florida, southern CA and southern AZ can be kept to a minimum. As Archie Bunker would say.... "STIFLE!"

 

[RUCRAYZE]

One interesting discussion topic for side-view-mirror-only vehicles, such as the Elio... I drove recently on the Interstate for 3 hrs, and it was about 15 degrees outside with warm highway, and snowing. I looked at my side-view mirrors, and I could hardly see them through the side windows. The splash-up from the road and from vehicles you pass was getting up to the side windows (and side mirrors) and freezing, and that ice is dirty at that point. At that temp, as long as the road was wet or it was snowing, could not really use the side-view mirrors.

I suppose necessity will be the mother of invention, but in the Elio, we'll have to try bringing the window down and back up, to see if that will help. May have to stop occasionally and wipe off both window and side-mirror with paper towels. So for inner contents in the trunk, in addition to an ice scraper and jumper cables, may need a small bottle of window cleaner and some paper towels. For commuters in cities that get snow and have no backup camera, this might be a real issue.

Yes, Rain-x certainly is an option too, not sure if the frozen dirty water in -25 degree wind chill at 75 mph would stay or go on a side window treated with Rain-X.

Comments from all y'all in Florida, southern CA and southern AZ can be kept to a minimum. As Archie Bunker would say.... "STIFLE!"

You can trust me, my lips are sealed, (with just a slight grin), for me it's fond memories.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

You can choose to drive the way you are used to and comfortable with and I hope it continues working out for you the way it has until now. However I do also have to point out that you are presenting an apple to oranges comparison of two different driving situations and as a result the ideal driving habit for each is not the same.

In the case of a vehicle with only the outside mirrors being usable a driver is essentially forced to pick the best solution to the blind spot problem as there will be a blind spot or spots no matter how the mirrors are configured. I have driven many miles this way hauling trailers across the country and it simply is what it is.

In the case of most vehicles with both outside mirrors and an inside rear view mirror there is no need to even have blind spots at all as the mirrors can be configured in such a way to eliminate this issue. Driving without blind spots is of course the safer driving habit and this is why drivers education programs have been teaching young drivers how to do this for over 15 years now. The technique is called Blind-Spot Glare Elimination (BGE).

I would love to get rid of A-Pillars blind spots. I forget which one but one manufacturer did see through A-Pillars by doing a triangular frame without an enclosure.

 

[goofyone]

I would love to get rid of A-Pillars blind spots. I forget which one but one manufacturer did see through A-Pillars by doing a triangular frame without an enclosure.

Volvo SCC (Safety Concept Car)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_SCC
http://www.wayward-volvo.org/drop/volvo_scc.html

 

[Jim H]

One interesting discussion topic for side-view-mirror-only vehicles, such as the Elio... I drove recently on the Interstate for 3 hrs, and it was about 15 degrees outside with warm highway, and snowing. I looked at my side-view mirrors, and I could hardly see them through the side windows. The splash-up from the road and from vehicles you pass was getting up to the side windows (and side mirrors) and freezing, and that ice is dirty at that point. At that temp, as long as the road was wet or it was snowing, could not really use the side-view mirrors.

I suppose necessity will be the mother of invention, but in the Elio, we'll have to try bringing the window down and back up, to see if that will help. May have to stop occasionally and wipe off both window and side-mirror with paper towels. So for inner contents in the trunk, in addition to an ice scraper and jumper cables, may need a small bottle of window cleaner and some paper towels. For commuters in cities that get snow and have no backup camera, this might be a real issue.

Yes, Rain-x certainly is an option too, not sure if the frozen dirty water in -25 degree wind chill at 75 mph would stay or go on a side window treated with Rain-X.

Comments from all y'all in Florida, southern CA and southern AZ can be kept to a minimum. As Archie Bunker would say.... "STIFLE!"

Why in the world are you on the road in those conditions?

 

[CheeseheadEarl]

Why in the world are you on the road in those conditions?

We call it Tuesday up here.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

We call it Tuesday up here.

not everyone is from the state of sunshine and rattlesnakes