This thread is hilarious.
A lot of driver's pushing "looking over your shoulder" which is actually a pretty dangerous practice that most drivers pass down to the next generation and is only effective because everyone is so practiced at it. In reality, it's a pretty bad habit to take your eyes off the road in front, and manipulate your body in a way to look over the shoulder. Not to mention, there is no 100% way to see everything by physically looking. You cannot look through the B/C pillars. The camera has no obstructions at all.
The SAE published a very well researched paper about adjusting your side mirrors to eliminate the blind spot by putting them just outside of where your rear view mirror can see, while most driver's incorrectly have their side mirrors positioned down the side of the vehicle which is redundant to the rear view mirror: The Geometry of Automotive Rearview Mirrors - Why Blind Zones Exist and Strategies to Overcome Them
Car and Driver popularized it with their little blurb here: https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15131074/how-to-adjust-your-mirrors-to-avoid-blind-spots/
So @gottagofast , I agree with you. The side cameras actually provide MORE of the rear view than the side mirrors. I have found the same as you, there is effectively no blind spot using the side camera. The only spot the camera cannot see is where my peripheral vision takes over, the corners of my eye can see my immediate left/right, and the camera shows me the rest.
I agree with most that using all the views in combination is the safest possible (mirrors + camera) but I have no problem using only cameras. Some cars these days don't even have mirrors and have a camera system only.
A lot of driver's pushing "looking over your shoulder" which is actually a pretty dangerous practice that most drivers pass down to the next generation and is only effective because everyone is so practiced at it. In reality, it's a pretty bad habit to take your eyes off the road in front, and manipulate your body in a way to look over the shoulder. Not to mention, there is no 100% way to see everything by physically looking. You cannot look through the B/C pillars. The camera has no obstructions at all.
The SAE published a very well researched paper about adjusting your side mirrors to eliminate the blind spot by putting them just outside of where your rear view mirror can see, while most driver's incorrectly have their side mirrors positioned down the side of the vehicle which is redundant to the rear view mirror: The Geometry of Automotive Rearview Mirrors - Why Blind Zones Exist and Strategies to Overcome Them
Car and Driver popularized it with their little blurb here: https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15131074/how-to-adjust-your-mirrors-to-avoid-blind-spots/
So @gottagofast , I agree with you. The side cameras actually provide MORE of the rear view than the side mirrors. I have found the same as you, there is effectively no blind spot using the side camera. The only spot the camera cannot see is where my peripheral vision takes over, the corners of my eye can see my immediate left/right, and the camera shows me the rest.
I agree with most that using all the views in combination is the safest possible (mirrors + camera) but I have no problem using only cameras. Some cars these days don't even have mirrors and have a camera system only.