Professional drivers' use of side mirrors

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

I'm no pro, but I'll throw in my pair of pennies.

I mostly do like Sean and Dave. I adjust the passenger side so I can just barely see the side of the trailer on the edge of the mirror with a slight turn of my head. This gives me a much larger view of the lane to my right. The key here is "much largER" view of that lane, it's not a complete view of that lane. So I often find myself leaning forward or pulling my head back so I can see the WHOLE lane. Between my after market, clip-on towing mirrors and my factory truck mirrors, I have a pretty good view around my rig.

I also practice many of the habits mentioned above; keeping track of vehicles around me, spending as much time in the right-most lane as possible, surrounding myself with as much air as I can find, keeping away from demonstratively erratic or violent drivers...

And here's my two pennies...

Sounds like Camper_bob and I set our mirrors in a similar way and, like the others, practice good habits in relation to lanes and traffic.

HOWEVER, my own 'special brand' of driving safety includes the following modifications:
- In city traffic with 3 or more lanes, I almost always avoid the far right lane. Frequently, there is too much traffic exiting and merging.
- Within reason in city traffic, I keep pace with the flow; not too much slower and almost never faster.
- Outside of the cities & congestion, I generally drive about 5mph under the speed limit; it saves fuel and creates an open space in front of me. However, if I see a 'slug' of traffic congestion moving up behind me, I'll pick up the pace to the speed limit until the 'slug' has passed me and then gradually drop my speed back to 5mph under the limit.

[SecretCoveDave]

Like the highway 'slug' tip!