Blind Spot Warning

[Letas]

As an USAF aviator for 20 years, I had to study accident causality, human factors, and human failure modes extensively. And I got to witness my share of accidents and deaths. There was always a chain of events, and there was almost almost a failure of one or more "infallible in their own minds" hunab beings.

Drivers are far worse. Absolutely untrained. Arrogant. Angry. Fatigued. Any safety system that keeps them from killing me or somebody else is a plus.

Of course, the ultimate in safe driving is to take humans out of the loop, and we're slowly but surely doing that.

Every time I'm on an auto forum and some arrogant person declares themself to be a safe driver, I immediately internally label that person as a menace to the driving public. Because arrogance and utter belief in your own perfection is the surest route to an accident.

Illusory superiority… the amount of drivers who I’d truly call “good” or safe is a small fraction of the people who claim to be good. I’m smart enough to know I’m not the best driver on the road, And have just been lucky to not have been in a major accident up until this point.

 

[E90400K]

Not sure how many people in this thread have actually driven a small 2-door pickup truck with the rear glass just a few inches behind your head, but there really are no blind spots.

With the SUV kit added, it gets a bit more critical to learn how to properly adjust the three rear view mirrors. And more reason electrically adjustable door mirrors should be standard equipment.

 

[E90400K]

Without a doubt riding a motorcycle in traffic will tune up your defensive driving skills in general and improve your use of Road Strategy in particular.

By road strategy I mean doing things like riding / driving in the gaps (away from clusters of vehicles) because when there are no cars near you your ability to avoid a collision improves quite a bit.

There's a lot you can do, including some things you wouldn't think of on your own. This YouTube channel is a good resource:
MCrider - Motorcycle Training

It has been my fundamental belief that drivers education training should include that all students ride as a passenger on a motorcycle with a trained motorcycle instructor to gain an appreciation of the importance to learn and use good driving techniques.

 

[ValkorTheOptimistic]

I'm hoping the rear view mirror's shape accepts a Broadway Mirror.

Is it dorky? Yep.
Does it help? Yes, a lot.

Edit
Of course there's always the four-panel Golf Cart Mirror option, haha.

I'm 100% on board with dorky. That's why I'm looking at a function-over-form Slate.

Not sure how many people in this thread have actually driven a small 2-door pickup truck with the rear glass just a few inches behind your head, but there really are no blind spots.

With the SUV kit added, it gets a bit more critical to learn how to properly adjust the three rear view mirrors. And more reason electrically adjustable door mirrors should be standard equipment.

I got to sit in one when they still allowed it, and the rear column is actually fairly wide. I'm assuming that's where they keep the airbags, but it does also introduce a blind spot to the head turn check. I won't buy the shell kit if it feels blind at all.

I still don't want any driver assist more complicated than traction control or ABS-type systems. If I wanted those features, I'd buy a Tesla or a Subaru.

 

[SparkYellow]

I am pretty good at dodging. 😁 The only time that I got rear-ended in the last 17 years (460K+ miles across 5 cars) was when my rear hatch was blocked by items in the trunk. Luckily it was an elder lady in a very old camry at low speed. The damage still cost her insurance $9K including a rental for 3 weeks. Anything bigger and faster would have totaled my high-mileage car. A different driver would probably try to argue that it was my fault.

After the car was fixed, I had to carry an empty water barrel in the trunk, again fully blocking the rear view, so I set up a WiFi cam pointing at the hatch glass and kept the live stream on a separate phone all the way.

 

[Luxrage]

This thread had me curious on the aftermarket blind spot warning setups offered, proper radar based ones,

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_212RD1600/Brandmotion-RDBS-1600.html?tp=78399


It's pricey but seems to work from the research I did.

The power mirror thing goes along with the same argument many have had for the power windows. At this point, with every OEM offering them, surely the tech is cheap enough per unit that it wouldn't even be noticable. Heck, my manual mirrored 87 LTD Fleet had LOCALLY adjustable manual mirrors via a knob and cable:

Left and right manual mirror controls (mine didn't have vent windows so it also works on standard full size windows:

 

[ValkorTheOptimistic]

This thread had me curious on the aftermarket blind spot warning setups offered, proper radar based ones,



It's pricey but seems to work from the research I did.

Perfect. I'm super happy that aftermarket options exist for people who want those options.