A Crash Course in Defensive Driving

Recently I took a defensive driving class to knock a couple points off my license. There were only 3 of us in the class so our instructor condensed the 6 hours down to about 16 minutes. Among the mountains and mountains of new information i obtained was a ditto roughly describing how to properly adjust your mirrors. Apparently what we were taught back in drivers ed is now wrong. (It's one of those things that got changed but there was no press release. Also on that list are brushing up and down instead of back and forth and it is now safe to look into a microwave while it is running.)

This new method sets it so your side-view mirrors are almost completely straight out. With your rear-view you can see all cars behind and next to you. As a car leaves your rear-view you just begin picking it up in your side-view. As it leaves your side-view you can see the car next to you. You have eliminated the blind spot.

I love it. It's like a game. I watch cars as they approach from behind enter my rear-view, leave my rear-view, enter my side-view, leave my side-view and enter my peripheral vision. I am so distracted by this new game, I am surely now a worse driver. Fortunately, I now have room for a couple points on my license.