Do you know how to adjust your car mirrors?

Mirrors are an integral part of vehicles. Knowing how to adjust these mirrors and where to correctly position them is really important to ensure they are effective and serve their purpose.

The wing and rear-view mirrors help the person behind the wheels to see other vehicles from the sides and manoeuvre the vehicle safely. One of the first things one has to do once you enter the vehicle is to adjust the mirrors. If you take the vehicle on road without checking the mirrors you are asking for trouble. Actually, it is a common mistake committed by every one of us once in a while. So, it is better to check the mirrors before you set out in order to save your time and money and in fact even your life.

It is said that the face is the mirror of the mind, but, for a car, the mirror itself is the face.

After setting the seat height and the distance from the steering, place your head on the headrest and check the mirror. There is no point in adjusting the mirrors without first ensuring a comfortable seat height and depth. From the headrest, you should be able to see all the three mirrors without moving your head. This is the correct seating position to adjust the mirrors.

Now, how to adjust the mirrors. First fix the rear-view mirror. Adjust it so that you can use a quarter of it to see the sky and the remaining three-quarters to see the road behind. You should get a view straight out of your car’s rear window, centred, and level.

Now, adjust the wing mirrors. There are some people who fold the left-side mirror while driving. And then there are some who do not adjust the left mirror since they believe there is no need to use it. You need to use your mirrors effectively to keep up with what is happening behind and around you all the time.

You need to adjust both the side mirrors to get optimum view. The wing mirrors can be divided into three parts - the first part (the mirror's left side) should show the side of the car while the other two should display the road and the surroundings.

With these settings, you will have almost seamless visual contact around your vehicle by turning your head. Besides, you do not need to seek the help of your co-passenger to check for vehicles on the sides any more.

However, having your mirror adjusted correctly doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t check your blind spot. Every time you change lanes or pull out from a line of parked cars you must check your blind spot.