Ford apparently just realized that blind spots in rear-view mirrors are an issue for drivers. In a move to get out in front on this brave new challenge to modern motoring, Ford will be offering special blind spot viewing mirrors on the upper corner of side-view mirrors. That's right, drivers of America, what you once had to pay ten bucks for at Autozone will now come as standard feature "on a few Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models to start, eventually making them standard across most of its lineup." But if cheap, uninspired solutions to the silent killer we call blind spots aren't for you, maybe you'd prefer something overly complicated and gimmicky? Ford has you covered there too, announcing an optional radar-based blind spot warning system as a (doubtless) expensive option on select models. With a little light on your rear view mirror to warn you that an intruder has penetrated your blind spot sector, your "Cross Traffic Alert" system will ensure that you never have to be aware of traffic around you ever again.
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Why don’t they just offer to have someone from Ford ride with you and check your blind spot?
This is getting ridiculous.
Will they be putting Turbonators in the intakes to improve gas mileage and hp too?
PepBoys for the win!
Yes, I want to hire a Ford Blind Spotter to ride shotgun with me!
Yet another step closer to removing the “driving” aspect from driving.
Didn’t they swipe the warning gizmo thingie from Volvos that are already in production?
Most European cars already have aspheric mirrors which remove the blind-spot!
Unfortunately, I believe that aspheric rear view mirrors are illegal on the driver’s side in the USA.
I always joke that if an equivalent message to that on convex passenger mirror (Objects in mirror are closer than they appear) was required, it would probably cover the whole surface of an aspheric mirror, to explain how it works!!!
I would imagine the radar thingy would be a boon to elderly drivers.
And yet Chrysler does the opposite and makes their blind spots bigger and bigger.
I’d assume that the radar-based system is simply borrowed from Volvo. As for special bits on the mirrors to help you see in blind spots, I recall a rental 5-series Bimmer I drove having mirrors that curved at the outer edge to help you see a little bit more. If the Ford solution is more like that than a $10 stick-on toy, it doesn’t sound like a bad idea.
how about just setting ones side mirrors properly in the first place? (you don’t need to see the side of your vehicle in the mirror people)
My Mazda 3’s mirror SUCKS. I need one of those as I position my mirrors the “right” way but it’s impossible with the 3. I do however have a lovely view of the rear of my car so that should never sneak up and hit me.
You have to be kidding. Something that’s been standard on cars in most of the rest of the world (and done infinitely more elegantly with integrated aspherical or split flat/apo mirrors) for at least the last twenty years have just appeared as a feature?
/me *looks boggled*
Removing the blind spots in their product design group might help more!
On a serious note, They need to put a convex strip at the BOTTOM of the mirror, this would be easier to sight than something stuck in the corner.
Proper adjustment is a lot less expensive than yet more techno-doo-dads. If you can see the same object behind you in all 3 mirrors, they are set wrong. If you can see your own vehicle in any of your mirrors, they are set wrong.
–chuck
http://chuck.goolsbee.org
The radar thing is from Volvo, so it was probably no biggie for Ford to put it in their other vehicles. This seems to be a rather helpful little gizmo. When Volvo did it, it was definitely within the branding criteria, but I don’t think there was a lot of eye rolling about it. Personally, I think this is a good move and might prevent a few stupid idiots from getting into accidents.
I like seeing a little bit of the side of my car in my mirrors!
^^^ you may like it, but it’s not the right way to do it… chuck has the right description
I would argue that the ‘right’ way is any way that keeps you from having an accident, and since I haven’t had an accident, I would say my mirror positioning is fine
I’m with thetopdog on this. I hate it when I can’t orient myself by seeing a little bit of the car in the mirror – without that, I don’t feel like I can trust my mirrors to be looking where I think they are looking. For me, its the right way to use my mirrors.
I’m not sure why everyone seems to be giving Ford’s blind spot mirrors such a hard time. They look a little cheap, but seem easy and innocuous and may help sometimes. They are much better than some awful overcomplicated radar system that will just add more buttons and noise and make lazy drivers think they can be even lazier.
I can see this being useful for a large truck, but I’d find them annoying on my car and I’d almost certainly remove them. There’s nothing I can’t see by looking in two locations: mirror and side window. Why would I want to have to look at three locations every time I change lanes?
Kurt B, you must have different mirrors than I. The mirrors on my ’04 Mazda3 are fine.
I used to have my mirrors adjusted in such a way that I saw the side of my car mostly. Then I read an article about how to adjust them correctly to see the blind spot. It works great. They should educate people more about how to adjust the mirrors. Another problem is that a lot of cars today have small, ineffective, tapered mirrors.
@rpn453
I have an 06 GX – and am 6’4″.. I see 40% car in the driver’s side mirror with it fully out.
Once you’ve gotten used to nice European aspheric mirrors there’s no going back.
They let you have your cake and eat it too – aspheric side mirrors allow you to see both to the rear and to the side basically right up to your earlobe.
With flat mirrors there’s really no ideal solution – you can push the mirror well out to the side, to cover the blind-spot, but this leaves you unable to see to the rear – pretty much essential when pulling out of a parking space into traffic.