Driving & Mirrors

I've made several entries about driving because I do a LOT of it, have been doing it for over 20 years, but love learning new things, and just want to share with you. Click the Driving Advice tab at the top to see some of my driving related entries. This one is about how to adjust your mirrors properly according to the Blindspot and Glare Elimination (BGE) settings to be able to drive more safely. Rather than re-write what has already been done, I am using the entry on the Driver's Ed Guru website as my reference. I'm summarizing that info here, but please do visit their website for more information about the BGE settings. Yeah, they even have a video you can watch...but I have it here too...

The Blindspot and Glare Elimination (BGE) mirror setting was developed in 1996 by a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers named George Platzer. The BGE setting reduces the usual two large blindspots to four mini blindzones. None of these four mini blindzones are large enough to completely hide a car.

There are several advantages to the BGE setting:

• You no longer have to turn your head to look into the blindzones.
• Only a brief glance at the side mirror and inside mirror is needed.
• By glancing at the mirror, you keep the road ahead in your peripheral vision. Turning your head completely eliminates the road ahead from your field of vision.
• Glare from the side mirrors is almost entirely eliminated. You should no longer have a trailing car’s headlights shine directly into your eyes.

This is how to set up the BGE setting:

• Place your head against the driver’s side window and adjust the driver’s side mirror so you can barely see the driver’s side of your car.
• Move your head as close to the center of the car as possible and adjust the passenger’s side mirror so you can barely see the passenger’s side of your car.
• To check your BGE settings, watch as a car passes you in an adjacent lane. It should enter your outside mirror before it leaves the rearview (inside) mirror. Also, the car should appear in your peripheral vision before it leaves the outside mirror.
• Remember, your inside rearview mirror is your primary mirror and it will take time to get accustomed to no longer seeing the sides of your car in the side mirrors.

As a personal note, I will ALWAYS use the shoulder look to confirm what I might see, even though their bullet point above says I don't have to. Sorry, been doing it for so long that I will still do it. But, employing this information means that I don't run the risk of sitting in a body shop any more than I need to...

Drive safe...