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Driving in reverse only using mirors.

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 1:30 pm
by SOMERS
For some driving in reverse is a chalenging experiance ,which, need not be so.

All it takes is a little practice .

Find a rarely used stretch of road marked with a solid center line and a clear space behind your vehicle on all sides.

Park your vehicle say 16 inches from the line to start with,this is to give you room to manouver,in time you will be able to drive closer to the line.

Adjust all mirors to suite your seating position.

Place your left hand top center on the steering wheel making sure all your road wheels / tires are in alignment .
Engage reverse gear and SLOWLY move the vehicle back say 3 ft and stop.Do this several times using your mirors till you become confident.

Question did you car wander ? if so you will now need to correct that wonder.
Go back to your starting point and try again.

Here is how !
1) Moving the steering wheel slightly to your right ,will cause your car to move closer to the center line on the road.
2) Moving the steering wheel slightly to your left,will cause your car to move away from the center line on the road.
3) Holding the steering wheel on center the car should not deviate to either side, if so, you will need to make the adjustments as set out in items 1 & 2.

All you need is practice
Enjoy

Somers Cx3 soul red

Re: Driving in reverse only using mirors.

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 4:15 pm
by AndyRen
And for Right Hand Drive models place the *right* hand atop the steering wheel ;) 8-)

Re: Driving in reverse only using mirors.

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 9:02 pm
by SOMERS
Andy , Thanks for your sugestions and support.

Our Mazda is right hand drive.
I find it easier to use my left hand for steering while as I mainly use the right hand wing mirror, also, there are times I have need to change hands , sometimes I find it easier to tilt my wing mirrors down.

There are times when I find the need to change hands and body position when using the center view or the left hand wing miror, that is, if , I am backing into a "slot car bay."
I am right handed my wife is left handed , I guess the best hand to use is what ever people are comfortable with.
When "slot parking" I guage distance by using the vehicle next to me.
there are time i ask my bride to man the flight deck .
The moral to this story is never take chances when reversing.

My earlier wize crack post says" what you cant see matters".

I have noticed most scratches happen on some other vehicles corners.

Re: Driving in reverse only using mirors.

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 11:19 pm
by SOMERS
Please let me take this a few steps further.

Basicly cars when reversing some times will ZIG ZAG.

Steering wheel have two sides Right & Left.

While steering some will say as a figure of speech " Right hand down "or "Left hand down" to denote the direction in which the steering wheed is to be rotated.

While reversing the driver is virtually manouvering the front end of the vehicle with respect to the rear.

The science of reversing ...............

Right hand down causes the front of the car to move away from the center line at the same time the rear of the vehicle will move closer to the line.
Conversely :::::::::::
Left hand down causes the front of the car to move closer to the center line at the same time the rear of the vehicle will move further from the line.

In a nut shell while reversing :::::::::::::
Turn the steering wheel clockwise round to the right the car will go right.
Turn the steering wheel anticlockwise round to the left the car will go left .

Over steering and driving fast may invite disaster.

Warning ::::::: Be on the look out for :-
Small children; Childrens toys ; Family pets; Pedestrians; other vehicles; etc.

Re: Driving in reverse only using mirors.

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 8:17 am
by AndyRen
SOMERS wrote: Sun Oct 07, 2018 9:02 pm Andy , Thanks for your sugestions and support.

Our Mazda is right hand drive.
I find it easier to use my left hand for steering while as I mainly use the right hand wing mirror, also, there are times I have need to change hands , sometimes I find it easier to tilt my wing mirrors down.
OK.... I did assume your car is left hand drive as in the UK we would fail our driving test if we reversed with our left hand in the center top of the steering wheel whilst reversing as there would be no way we could lean around in the chair and *mainly* keep our eyes looking out of the rear window!

Rule 202 of the Highway Code -

https://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/using-t ... rsing.html

;)

Re: Driving in reverse only using mirors.

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 8:31 am
by DaveG
Absolutely correct Andy......unless you have a medical reason to prevent the rear window observation

Re: Driving in reverse only using mirors.

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 11:55 am
by SOMERS
Origionaly, I did set the stage on a rarely used road with a single center line.
The highway code is not the same in all countries.
After passing the drivers test people are faced with dealing with the events of real world.
I rarely use the rear window when reversing as there are "C" pilar blind spots.

Re: Driving in reverse only using mirors.

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 1:48 pm
by SOMERS
I may do an article on preselective steering.

" Driving is a wonderfull experiance".

" The more you know the less you have to learn".

Re: Driving in reverse only using mirors.

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:50 pm
by SOMERS
I wonder why they call it highway CODE infering some thing that need to be broken in order to understand the content they are not confusing it with the Bletchley code .

Re: Driving in reverse only using mirors.

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2018 3:05 pm
by SOMERS
To fully comprehend the motion of a vehicle while turning.

Take a ride on a large tour bus, find a seat directly above the rear wheels, from there you will be able to experiance the girations at the front end of the bus as it rotates above its rear wheel axis, you will also experiance the phenomenon as the bus turns to the right , the rear of the bus rotates to the left.

Looking for the thrill of "G" force , sit up front behind the driver as he negotiates a 90 degree corner.

My point using only mirors, I wish to pass on here while reversing, is the need to control rear wheel direction of travel.

Warning ::::::: Be ware of becoming disoriented.


" Always look on the bright side of life" .