How to Judge Distance by Looking at the Rearview Mirror in a Car?
2 Answers
The method to judge distance by looking at the rearview mirror in a car is: 1. Use the center of the rearview mirror as a reference line. When the car body is on the outer side of the reference line and the rear vehicle cannot be fully seen, the distance is 5m; 2. When the rear vehicle can completely appear in the rearview mirror and the car body presses on the reference line, the distance is 10m. The method to adjust the rearview mirror is: 1. Left rearview mirror: Place the horizontal line at the midline position of the rearview mirror, then adjust the edge of the car body to occupy a quarter of the mirror image; 2. Right rearview mirror: Place the horizontal line at two-thirds of the rearview mirror, then adjust the edge of the car body to occupy a quarter of the mirror image.
When I first started learning to drive, I found judging distances through the rearview mirrors the most challenging. My instructor taught me to use the interior rearview mirror: if the car behind completely fills the mirror, it means it's too close, about five or six meters away, requiring extra caution; if the car appears much smaller, occupying only a small portion of the mirror, then it's over ten meters away, which is quite safe. For lane changes, the side mirrors are key: if you can see the entire car clearly in the mirror, appearing very small, it indicates a safe distance; if only half the front or rear of the car is visible, it means the car is close, roughly a car length away, and you shouldn't change lanes hastily. I practiced in an empty parking lot, first estimating distances with the mirrors, then turning my head to confirm the actual distance, gradually developing intuition. Speed also affects this—at higher speeds, the car's image changes quickly, and distances decrease rapidly, so it's important to check the mirrors more frequently. The core of safe driving is consistent practice and not fixating on a single point but maintaining awareness of the whole situation.
