Using only the camera turn signal when changing lanes

[jamguy]

This thread is hilarious.

A lot of driver's pushing "looking over your shoulder" which is actually a pretty dangerous practice that most drivers pass down to the next generation and is only effective because everyone is so practiced at it. In reality, it's a pretty bad habit to take your eyes off the road in front, and manipulate your body in a way to look over the shoulder. Not to mention, there is no 100% way to see everything by physically looking. You cannot look through the B/C pillars. The camera has no obstructions at all.

The SAE published a very well researched paper about adjusting your side mirrors to eliminate the blind spot by putting them just outside of where your rear view mirror can see, while most driver's incorrectly have their side mirrors positioned down the side of the vehicle which is redundant to the rear view mirror: The Geometry of Automotive Rearview Mirrors - Why Blind Zones Exist and Strategies to Overcome Them

Car and Driver popularized it with their little blurb here: https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15131074/how-to-adjust-your-mirrors-to-avoid-blind-spots/

So @gottagofast , I agree with you. The side cameras actually provide MORE of the rear view than the side mirrors. I have found the same as you, there is effectively no blind spot using the side camera. The only spot the camera cannot see is where my peripheral vision takes over, the corners of my eye can see my immediate left/right, and the camera shows me the rest.

I agree with most that using all the views in combination is the safest possible (mirrors + camera) but I have no problem using only cameras. Some cars these days don't even have mirrors and have a camera system only.

 

[jamguy]

The motorcycle won't be in the live camera feed if the camera isn't pointed at the motorcycle. Motorcycles fit in places that are beside the car and not in view of the camera.

? @Marsh25 That's not true at all. The positioning of the side cameras are such that there are no blind spots. There is no place you can be next to a Tesla, that you are not visible in the side camera. Once you leave the view of the side camera, you are visible through the windshield (for a driver).

Take a look at this dashcam video:

And this one:

In both cases, the passing vehicles go mirror to mirror and you can still see the whole car because the side cameras are forward of the side mirrors.

 

[afadeev]

The motorcycle won't be in the live camera feed if the camera isn't pointed at the motorcycle. Motorcycles fit in places that are beside the car and not in view of the camera.

To correct a few misconceptions:

1. You CAN position the side & rear view mirrors to eliminate blind spots.
   • You do have to position side view mirrors properly, and very few folks know how or bother do so since that skill is not taught in driver's ed (I've never rented a car with properly positioned side view mirrors. Always need to adjust them).
   • No, you don't need to buy extra sized mirrors.
   • Yes, you do need to know how to adjust them. Here is how:
     • How to Make Your Car Mirrors Account for Blind Spots.
     • Video for those who TLDR:
2. You will NEVER assemble the full picture of your car's surroundings if you are looking into mirrors / cameras once every blue moon. A frame at a time will not tell the dynamics of other cars moving around you. You need to scan all mirrors continuously, and pro-actively be aware of where cars and motorcycles are around you, and where you expect them to be a few seconds from now.
   • Scanning mirrors also maintains your eyes on the road. With practice, you can learn to pickup the information from the mirrors through peripheral vision.
   • Focusing on the in-car screen is significantly more disruptive, and you need to change your eye-balls' focus and aperture to near & bright display, then refocus on the long view ahead.

YMMV,
a

 

[davewill]

Yes. If you adjust them right, you will see the front of a car that is passing you appear in the side mirror just before the rear of the car leaves the rearview mirror. If you can see a whole car in the side and the rear at the same time, you've created a bigger blind spot next to you. People adjust their mirrors too close because they can't judge what they are seeing unless they see their own car in the side mirrors, or they want to just stare at the one side mirror when making a lane change, but it leaves huge blind spots.

Note that no matter how you adjust your mirror, you can't assume you have eliminated all of your blind spots. The camera doesn't do that, either. There may still be areas in the second or third lanes away from you that you can't see. For that matter, doing a shoulder check doesn't guarantee you haven't missed a car in a blind spot, either. Using multiple views is the best defense.

Now, tech may some day completely eliminate blind spots, I suspect the form that will take is something like the visualization that Tesla generates on the center screen rather than a complex wide angle or 360 degree camera view that might be hard to interpret quickly.

 

[Gasaraki]

I didn’t want opinions on wether people like it or not I just wanted to know if it was possible to use the camera only and not the mirrors if I’m comfortable with it lol

If both the mirror and camera have blind spots then I need to use both of them, but if the camera has no blind spots I would just use the camera

So which is it does the camera have blind spots or not that I still need to use the mirrors, because I’m completely comfortable with the camera

What do you mean "if it was possible to use the camera only"? Of course it's possible. Anything's possible. You can drive blindfolded and have a passenger steer and have them tell you when to brake. That's certainly possible also. I guess ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer (or comment).

Yes, this is a stupid comment.

 

[gottagofast]

What do you mean "if it was possible to use the camera only"? Of course it's possible. Anything's possible. You can drive blindfolded and have a passenger steer and have them tell you when to brake. That's certainly possible also. I guess ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer (or comment).

Yes, this is a stupid comment.

No that wouldn’t be safe, I was wondering if just using only the camera would be just as safe or better than the mirror. That’s what I meant by is it possible

 

[zoomer0056]

You can drive

To be rediculous, it depends on the definition of "can". Like what President Clinton said, it depends on what the definition on "is" is.

 

[3sr+buyer]

Looking over your shoulder is a good driving habit in my opinion....it takes care of blind spots, motorcycles and most importantly traffic in the outer lanes which might be coming in just as you are going out...

Though it would help if cars had better rear side visibility. Newer cars seem to be trending toward worse rear side visibility, making it easier to hide things from a driver looking over the shoulder. (In the Model 3, it would help if the rear head restraints can be folded down when no one is in the seat.)

 

[johnnycnote]

Animations aren’t allowed?

I'm ok with animated avatars and considering who your avatar is, he should be going faster!

 

[Whatstreet]

A glance at the side mirror provides an opportunity to see a car that is in the next lane over that might be lane changing into the same lane that you want to change to. Neither mirror, camera nor blind spot warning will catch this, but a view of the side window might. A problem when on multi lane freeways.

 

[gottagofast]

A glance at the side mirror provides an opportunity to see a car that is in the next lane over that might be lane changing into the same lane that you want to change to. Neither mirror, camera nor blind spot warning will catch this, but a view of the side window might. A problem when on multi lane freeways.

Yea I just avoid those middle lanes, too easy to cause an accident

 

[PianoAl]

I went through multiple procedures of adjusting mirrors to eliminate blindspots. Sure, if I had my head in just the right spot, it kinda worked.

But having a small convex stick-on works amazingly well. Ain't no cars can hide from you.

I used to use large stick-ons, but the small ones work just as well, and are less disruptive if you ever let someone else drive your car. Plus, the tilt down for backing up is still effective.