Another thought on outward visibility

"The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123" (mattp123)
05/16/2015 at 23:02 • Filed to: None

It is sad that stronger structure has come to mean an impaired ability to see your car’s surroundings. So much so that cars now have and even require technology to get around that problem. Tonight I overheard a guy talking about a rear view camera saying “you don’t even have to look over your shoulder.” This came as a bit of a shock as he was an older guy at a classic car show. The old school type you would expect to always check blind spots.

Which brings me to the point of the image. The other day I noticed the blind spot indicator was on while the vehicle next to me was passing. Fine. Except when it went off, the car had barely passed me. If the driver was so careless as to actually trust the light and changed lanes when it went off (like the guy above who wouldn’t look over his shoulder), they would have been only about a foot ahead of me and I would have had to use my brakes to allow for more room.

DISCUSSION (14)

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
05/16/2015 at 23:18

Of course, back in the day when they put glass in cars so that you could look out of them, you could also see the dangers and drive to avoid them.

Alex from Toronto > The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
05/16/2015 at 23:20

I think people have to realize that these systems are there for assistance not for full time usage.

/End Mini Rant.

Snooder87 > The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
05/16/2015 at 23:39

The blind spot monitor is for your blind spot, though. Not for stuff that’s in front of or behind you and should be perfectly visible.

And it’s not a new cars have shit visibility problem only either. My old car, a 2000 toyota celica, had the worst blind spots. Even if I turned my entire body so see over my left shoulder, there was a massive c pillar right there to cockblock. I pretty much just had to hope and pray whenever I made a lane change.

Destructive Tester > The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
05/17/2015 at 00:15

I used to have the same feeling on hating backup cameras until last weekend when I had to drive a Toyota Sienna (we were out of town and needed a rental car with 8 passenger capacity, options are limited)... The first time I shifted into reverse and the camera came on I said “Screw that, I don’t need help backing-up!” Then I looked over my shoulder... Let me tell you something about rearward visibility in a minivan with 6 people behind you, there isn’t any. AT ALL. Hell, I could barely even see the back window... I tried the rear view mirror because I’ve driven cars that you could actually see better out of through the mirror than over your shoulder (I’m looking at you GM). “Hi everyone! It’s nice to see your faces but I sure as hell can’t see to back-up... So I just had to suck it up and play the world’s second lamest video game (there’s one where you are a forklift driver, yeah that’s the game. It’s the lamest) and back out of the spot and hit the road.

As far as driving the van goes, I think I’ll be castrating myself before I ever have enough kids to necessitate ever actually owning one...

The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 > Snooder87
05/17/2015 at 00:29

Yes, but there will still be the people who will think “light’s not on, time to change lanes” without actually checking their mirrors to make sure they’ve completely passed or that somebody behind them isn’t coming up fast. My 92 Grand Marquis has massive C-pillars too. And the car as a whole is huge. And the rounded trunk lid makes it hard to judge where it ends. That’s where well aimed mirrors and experience comes into play.

The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 > Destructive Tester
05/17/2015 at 00:32

You talking about Shenmue?

Kinja'd!!!

Yea. I understand the usefulness of some cameras. But while your head is looking forward and down at a small screen, you can still miss a lot of what’s behind you peripherally.

Snooder87 > The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
05/17/2015 at 00:33

The light is on the mirror though. They can’t check the light without seeing what’s in the mirror.

The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 > Snooder87
05/17/2015 at 00:40

You underestimate how stupid people can be. I forget who said it, but somebody said something along the lines of “imagine how dumb the average person is, and remember half the people are dumber than that.” Plus it seems every friend/family car I get into, no matter how much I shift my head to be where theirs would be, their mirrors are pointed at the side of their car and more sky than ground. Plus they’re not all in the mirror. Close to the mirror, but not always on the actual reflective surface.

Destructive Tester > The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
05/17/2015 at 01:11

If that’s the one where you literally just drive a forklift and move pallets and crates, I couldn’t remember the name...

I totally get your point, I was just bored and felt like telling my rambling story from last weekend... I didn’t mention the amount of KY it took to squeeze that thing into the garage at the beach house we were renting (there wasn’t on street parking). I was tempted to bust out the classic Chef quote “Now I know how all those white women felt...”after every successful ingress, but though better of it considering we were with the in-laws.

The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 > Destructive Tester
05/17/2015 at 01:23

There’s way more to the game than forklifts. Never had the chance to play it on the Dreamcast, and the one emulator I tried sucked so I gave up.

Curbsenthusiasms > The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
05/17/2015 at 08:02

How about a game of darts? Up for a game of darts?

The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 > Curbsenthusiasms
05/17/2015 at 11:03

Nah. Too busy buying capsule toys.

Slave2anMG > The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
05/17/2015 at 12:48

Electronics Schmelectronics. I have installed on my 2013 VW CC two amazing things, remarkable devices, that leave me with no blind spots to my rear. What are these amazing things? European spec wide angle side mirror lenses. Our august regulators seem to think we’re too dim to comprehend wide angle (thus the lettering on US spec mirrors); the Europeans not so much. Installed in the car and then set properly there are NO blind spots behind me...in a car that’s one rolling blind spot due to the swooping low roof contour.

BloodlessWeevil > Alex from Toronto
05/17/2015 at 17:04

Yep, they are a supplement, not a replacement for your eyes. Unfortunately, all too often the thing that is supplemented is nothing because people don’t bothers to look around regardless.

/End Supplemental Mini Rant.