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.

 

[zipn]

FWIW I won't purchase a vehicle without BSM. An incident last night made me think of this thread.

I know how to adjust mirrors. Been driving 50+ years, only accident was a stupid young woman texting and rear-ended me (at 50mph! Didn't even brake!).

Helped my daughters purchase vehicles recently. Wouldn't make the deal without the safety nannies including BSM.

True real world example from last night:

We were driving home in the dark on rural ( and very unlit) interstate through north Mississippi in a 25 Maverick. doing mid 70s, traffic was light with a mix of slow cars, heavy trucks, and speeders. I had moved over in fast lane and just passed a much slower car, then was looking to get back over in the right lane. It was a casual maneuver.

I glance at the mirrors and it all looks clear, I engage my turn signal and as I have always done, also physically turn my head to look though the side and rear window as I am about to move over. At the VERY FIRST glance, it still looks clear. BUT BSM lights up and Beeps causing me to pause my lane change. I see there's actually freaking large Suburban (Black, of course) that came up fast behind me and is at that moment flying past me in the right lane. IT was that very moment when the car was positioned perfectly where the headlights (not the car, just the headlights) were in the little blind spot the mirrors missed. (guess he couldn't wait for me to move back over) I didn't notice the black body against the black background on the first glance.

I aborted my lane change. The BSM worked as it should (and the other driver was a inpatient ass).

Would I have actually turned into the suburban? Probably not, as I did register it a second or so after I turned my head, but the mirrors missed it and the BSW provided that extra WTF alert.

I don't care how good of a driver you are, or how good your mirror technique is. There are idiots out there, and if modern safety tech can keep you from having a very very very bad day, IMHO; I think it's ignorant to not have it.

I'll probably get a refund on my (very early) Slate reservation if I feel that they are skimping on the safety tech, but I'll wait and see if SLATE offers something first.

 

[LoneWolfo6]

Drive a Tesla with the proper use of side mirrors is safest.

 

[OldGoat]

zipn wrote: I see there's actually freaking large Suburban (Black, of course) that came up fast behind me and is at that moment flying past me in the right lane. IT was that very moment when the car was positioned perfectly where the headlights (not the car, just the headlights) were in the little blind spot the mirrors missed. (guess he couldn't wait for me to move back over) I didn't notice the black body against the black background on the first glance.

Yup! The problem with my BSW is that other drivers are going 80-90 MPH and changing lanes so quickly that they are already in a crash zone for me before the BSW registers. My strategy when traffic is heavy and nutty is to stay in my lane even if it means slowing down or perhaps going faster than I would prefer.
Now, I failed to note that Slate might not have any way to adjust the mirrors from the inside. But very happy others on this post had aftermarket solutions that might save the day for me. Still, just having an interior joy stick adjuster for the side mirrors seems important enough that Slate should include them OEM
[/QUOTE]

 

[OldGoat]

OK I've calmed down about Slate not having any interior adjustment for side mirrors. Mostly...
But I have no issue with Slate building some aftermarket accessory business for those wanting gizmos and gadgets. I can see where I'd go to one of their chosen installers to have a few things done properly provided the price was fair. The key to getting Slate off the ground is keeping the purchase price as low as possible so yeah....some content will have to be bypassed if they are going to enter the market and stay there.

 

[KevinRS]

The issue with manual adjustment of mirrors, with no inside control at all is, driver's side, you can in good weather, roll down the window, check, lean forward adjust, check, repeat until it's good. But passenger side you either need a 2nd person, or you are reaching all the way across the truck to adjust. Many people will just "make do" with how it's set if it's off every time they get in, as long as it's got some view at all. It's been years since I've seen a car that didn't have adjustment of both sides from the driver's easy reach, even if it was mechanical cables doing the moving. Even more since "reach out the window and move the mirror" so half the drivers will never have even dealt with that.

Cable based system is out with the mirrors being mounted to the doors, so powered is pretty much the only way to go. I wouldn't be surprised if the production vehicle does have powered adjustment as well as BSW and they just left it out of the prototypes, especially since BSW is supposed to be added to the qualifications for that 5 star rating Slate wants.

 

[AZFox]

I got to sit in one when they still allowed it, and the rear column is actually fairly wide.

It's wide because there's some frame inside.

 

[E90400K]

Considering the Slate is a diminutive size compared to most of current vehicles on the road and in the 2-door cab configuration, regardless of the width of the B-pillar, nearly any vehicle on the passenger side will be visible when looking over at the passenger-side door mirror. Even a Prius or Maverick.

 

[Driven5]

I wouldn't be surprised if the production vehicle does have powered adjustment...

This is the response I just recently got from, and provided further feedback to, Slate about the mirror adjustment method...

Thanks so much for reaching out and being patient while I grabbed that answer from my team!

The side mirrors will have to be moved manually. However, we do have the option of having power windows, so you can always grab those to make accessing the mirrors a bit easier.

Thanks again for reaching out! We appreciate any support and feedback as we learn and grow!

The fact that they're not even offering a power mirror option like they are power windows is doubly disappointing, especially considering the number of gimmicky non-value-added accessories they've spent the effort to create over this.