"Blind Spot Detection is disappointing"

[RogerHScott]

If you don't move your mirrors and sit in the same place, it till still be there tomorrow.

And if someone/something does move the mirrors, it won't -- but you won't know it. Which is exactly my point.

lean to the left to where your head is touching or nearly touching the side window. Adjust your left mirror so that you see the back left corner of your car. When you are back upright you will not see your car in the mirror, but you will know that it is *just* outside the mirror's reflective area.

This I can agree with -- it satisfies my requirement to be able to confirm the position of the mirror relative to the car. Yes, it is not
necessary to perform this confirmation continuously, but it should be possible to do it at all.

 

[Galve2000]

Review the manual to make sure warnings are turned on and other criteria were met.. like speed range where it's active, etc.View attachment 172307View attachment 172308

Thank you for this link. I study these "fluid lines" without really understanding what they were. I learned something today.

 

[Caligula]

It should be noted that if the mirrors are properly adjusted as suggested above, there is no "blind spot" when the side mirrors are used in conjunction with the rear view mirror... to speak nothing of the camera which in and of itself eliminates almost all of these issues.

 

[green1]

Unfortunately, you still can't see the cyclist that is between the red car and your own in that picture. Only now you have the misplaced confidence to believe you can, so you don't check and just run him over. Your mirror doesn't show any larger an area by moving it out, you just move the blind spot to a different place. Properly adjusted you ensure that there is zero gap between the edge of the car, and where you can see. The edge of the car should just barely be visible in it.
You want to see the side of your car for 2 reasons:
1) ensures no blind spot between your car and the visible area of the mirror (common place for cyclists and pedestrians)
2) ensures that your mirrors can't be knocked even further out of alignment without you noticing. If your car isn't visible then you have no reference point to even know where you're actually looking.

Now you don't need to study the side of your car, it should just be a sliver, not taking up any room in the mirror, but just enough to reference.

 

[ebwb]

The radar-based blind spot monitoring in the Volt works quite well. It has a few extra features that I'd like to see in Model S:

Lane Change Alert - In addition to alerting you of adjacent vehicles in your blind spot, it also monitors 250 feet to the rear to alert you of fast approaching vehicles coming from adjacent lanes:

I noticed this on a Suburban the other day; we were both standstill, queuing in the right lane of a two-lane off-ramp, and fast approaching vehicles in the left lane would set off the indicator light (on the mirror).

Cross Traffic Alert - This uses radar to alert you of vehicles coming from the side.

 

[RogerHScott]

Cross Traffic Alert

My Outback has this, and the jury's still out on whether it is more annoying than useful.

 

[ebwb]

Unfortunately, you still can't see the cyclist that is between the red car and your own in that picture. Only now you have the misplaced confidence to believe you can, so you don't check and just run him over. Your mirror doesn't show any larger an area by moving it out, you just move the blind spot to a different place. Properly adjusted you ensure that there is zero gap between the edge of the car, and where you can see. The edge of the car should just barely be visible in it.
You want to see the side of your car for 2 reasons:
1) ensures no blind spot between your car and the visible area of the mirror (common place for cyclists and pedestrians)
2) ensures that your mirrors can't be knocked even further out of alignment without you noticing. If your car isn't visible then you have no reference point to even know where you're actually looking.

Now you don't need to study the side of your car, it should just be a sliver, not taking up any room in the mirror, but just enough to reference.

Perhaps one could have two separate driver profiles: one for urban driving (mirror closer to the side of the car for viewing pedestrians and cyclists) and one for suburban/highway driving (for viewing vehicles in your blind spot).

My Focus Electric has these blind spot mirrors that actually expand the field of view. I love them and I'm surprised more vehicles don't have them. Guess they're not as cool and stylish as blind spot detection...

 

[ebwb]

My Outback has this, and the jury's still out on whether it is more annoying than useful.

Is there a way to turn off that feature but keep standard blind spot monitoring on?

 

[gsxdsm]

I love rear cross traffic alert

 

[P85DBeast]

I think that blind-spot should have been just included in the mirrors like on every other car that has a blind-spot monitor!!

 

[Reeler]

The electronic blind spot detection is totally useless. I adjust my mirrors. The autopilot requires me to keep my hands on the wheel and remain vigilant, again useless. Summon has resulted in cars crashing, worse than useless. Adaptive cruise seems to work. Maybe the self-parking works, but I haven't tried it.

Until Tesla gets actual autopilot, these gimmicks are just that. Don't waste your money on a $2500/$3000 gimmick. Tesla should add the AP 2.0 hardware or just admit that this beta crap autopilot doesn't work near 100% of the time.

 

[Zroiron]

I agree with the majority regarding the useless blind spot sensors, but the Tesla's have one advantage.... Running the rear view camera all the time. I leave my rear view cam on the top portion of the center screen all the time. It's a great Blind Spot Detector.

I use that rear view camera too. It useless in the rain since it is not shielded.

 

[RogerHScott]

The autopilot requires me to keep my hands on the wheel and remain vigilant, again useless.

If any system on any vehicle you own leads you to believe you can drive without being vigilant, remind me to stay far away from wherever you're driving!

 

[anxman]

The mirroring setups that suggest they solve the blind spot problem are misleading and may introduce new forms of collisions. They certainly aid in detecting blind spots on a two-lane road, but it is still insufficient for a highway because it doesn't give visibility two lanes over. I always check my blind spots two lanes over when making a lane change and it has prevented at least 3 highway collisions in my last ten years. If I had only relied on any mirroring system available on a sedan, I would have collided with other vehicles that were changing lanes into my lane.

 

[aus]

I don't think anyone here is saying you don't need to turn your head when you have your mirrors set properly. It just gives you a better picture of what's going on around you.
It's like backing up with a back-up camera, there's still HUGE blind spots for pedestrians if you don't turn your head.

 

[Edmond]

I have both mirrors well out. I know what my own car looks like, and I use lane markings in the mirrors for reference.

 

[FlatSix911]

Interesting idea ... BMW shows off mirrorless i8 concept car at CES

BMW showed off a concept car Wednesday that has no mirrors.
The rear-view and side-view mirrors in the i8are replaced by three cameras and a special screen to show drivers what's behind and around their cars. The i8 concept car was unveiled during the CES in Las Vegas. Two of the cameras are on the exterior of the car where side mirrors are normally located. But the struts that hold the cameras are significantly slimmer than existing designs.

The third camera is placed inside of the rear window. The car's software stitches all of the video feeds together for a very wide view of the road. A high-resolution video is streamed to a screen where the rear-view mirror would be.

"Dangerous blind spots have been consigned to the past," BMW says about this technology. "The image of the traffic behind the car covers a greater viewing angle than could be observed using the interior and exterior mirrors. No adjustment of the cameras is necessary." The car's software system will also provide warning signals on the screen if it senses dangerous obstacles.

Trimming the side mirrors provide more than just improved safety, BMW says. The new design will reduce wind noise because they are "optimized aerodynamically and aeroacoustically." The loss of bulky side-view mirrors should also help improve gas mileage, which automakers are always looking to do in order to meet tougher fuel mileage rules.

The main catch to BMW's idea? The car would be illegal to drive in the United States right now. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration rules require rear-view mirrors. GM has created a similar feature for its new Cadillac CT6. But the CT6 has a standard rearview mirror that can also stream high-resolution video from a camera mounted on the back of the vehicle.

 

[murphyS85]

My 2013 Ford Fusion Energi uses radar for blind spot monitoring.

 

[green1]

Interesting idea ... BMW shows off mirrorless i8 concept car at CES

BMW showed off a concept car Wednesday that has no mirrors.
The rear-view and side-view mirrors in the i8are replaced by three cameras and a special screen to show drivers what's behind and around their cars. The i8 concept car was unveiled during the CES in Las Vegas. Two of the cameras are on the exterior of the car where side mirrors are normally located. But the struts that hold the cameras are significantly slimmer than existing designs.

The third camera is placed inside of the rear window. The car's software stitches all of the video feeds together for a very wide view of the road. A high-resolution video is streamed to a screen where the rear-view mirror would be.

"Dangerous blind spots have been consigned to the past," BMW says about this technology. "The image of the traffic behind the car covers a greater viewing angle than could be observed using the interior and exterior mirrors. No adjustment of the cameras is necessary." The car's software system will also provide warning signals on the screen if it senses dangerous obstacles.

Trimming the side mirrors provide more than just improved safety, BMW says. The new design will reduce wind noise because they are "optimized aerodynamically and aeroacoustically." The loss of bulky side-view mirrors should also help improve gas mileage, which automakers are always looking to do in order to meet tougher fuel mileage rules.

The main catch to BMW's idea? The car would be illegal to drive in the United States right now. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration rules require rear-view mirrors. GM has created a similar feature for its new Cadillac CT6. But the CT6 has a standard rearview mirror that can also stream high-resolution video from a camera mounted on the back of the vehicle.

You do realize that Tesla showed off the initial Model X with that same camera setup several years before BMW did right? (and I don't think Tesla were the first either)
And the "minor" catch of it being illegal kind of puts a damper on it.

 

[ArtInCT]

Yesterday I paid great attention as I was on a two lane in each direction divided highway. So to test the blink spot detection I stayed in the right lane as faster traffic was passing me on the left.

Results? Of the 25 autos that passed me on the left, not once did the blind side sensor subsystem illuminate. Ever. I wonder actually if a sensor is defective? Has anyone else tried this? My car was spotless so it was not dreck. The left sensor works when I am backing up and getting close to objects. How else to test this subsystem??