Blind spot monitors - for those that are undecided

Speary, not a rant - it is something close to my heart. Too many young (and quite a few oldies!) place too much reliance on built in safety systems to get them out of a tight spot that they should never have got into in the first place.

blind stop monitors annoy the SH*T out of me, like you tim mine are on constantly, on our private road and local B roads.

I've managed perfectly well for the last 16 years without them.... to an aware driver they are a distraction, i see the flash and automaticaly look to the mirror needlessly.

(03-10-2012 11:26am)x5pea Wrote:  blind stop monitors annoy the SH*T out of me, like you tim mine are on constantly, on our private road and local B roads.

I've managed perfectly well for the last 16 years without them.... to an aware driver they are a distraction, i see the flash and automaticaly look to the mirror needlessly.

If you don't like them...why have you not turned them off? Why be annoyed about something you can disable and forget about?

I've been driving since 1988 and never needed them...never even had a close shave with a vehicle in my blind spot or when moving from one lane to another apart from the one event I described above but I'm all for additional safety devices that might - even just once - prevent a possible accident.

IIRC You can switch them off in the dash menu if you want to/ find them annoying

(03-10-2012 04:10pm)XFullFatTim Wrote:  IIRC You can switch them off in the dash menu if you want to/ find them annoying

Yep, one of the first - if not the first- setting you can adjust under vehicle set up.

I turned mine off when I first got the car for the very reason many on here complain about re they come on at the slightest provocation but on a trip to Belgium turned them back on and have grown used to them - i.e. being able to shut them out - and using them now only as a double check aid.

If you have your mirrors adjusted properly, I really don't see the point. It's not a foolproof system, it could never be so, so you cannot rely on it. I instinctively look back over my shoulder when pulling out to overtake and pulling back in, I rely on my eyes instead.

(04-10-2012 06:22am)mark_n Wrote:  If you have your mirrors adjusted properly, I really don't see the point. It's not a foolproof system, it could never be so, so you cannot rely on it. I instinctively look back over my shoulder when pulling out to overtake and pulling back in, I rely on my eyes instead.

Who suggests they would rely on it though? That's not the point of their use. They do work as a double check post checking with your eyes - you shouldn't be migrating to the next lane looking over your shoulder so when you face forward again and begin to move, you rely solely upon your mirrors at this point. If the timing is unfortunate and a fast moving vehicle that you clocked but were satisfied wasn't going to be a problem makes the move as you turn ahead then the blind spot indicators can and do alert you to this.

I had good reason to be thankful in my RRS for an aid that I wish LR would make an option on all it's cars - Adaptive Cruise Control with Forward Alert. The Adaptive Cruise was great, using the forward alert sensor to calcultae the speed of and distance to the car in front and then adjusting your speed to maintain a safe distance to it at the same speed as it unless it was travelling faster than I had set on the cruise. BUT the lifesaver for me was the Forward Alert bit. When the adaptive cruise wasn't engaged the sensor would also alert you something in the way like a parking sensor........ one day I was driving at a very low speed in dense fog and the sensor started to flash it's little light on the dash to say it had detected something about 100ft out. I slowed even more - to walking pace and then wow 6 feet in front of me was an unlighted grey trailer load of hay being pulled by an unlighted tractor. There was one HUGE problem with the Adaptive Cruise system that Land Rover fitted to RRS - the detector head was located in the lower nearside air intake grille, with a clear view ahead................ unfortunately in winter with sleet or snow falling the detector used to clog up with semi frozen snow/ slush and then the cruise control would cut out and the message "sensor obstructed" would come up on the dash and there was no cruise control available at all. I often wondered if any LR Techies had ever driven test mules in snowy weather with the system and if so why they hadn't pointed out that you went from Adpative Cruise directly to no cruise at all, it would have been nice on completing the first 20 miles of a 490 mile journey with adaptive to then drive the next 470 without any cruise control whatsoever because there was no facility to have the style of cruise that we have. I'm sure it would be a very simple adaptation to build in, or put the sensor somewhere where it was less likely to get snowed up. I did many jounrey's in the winter in that RRS and that was it's main let down - driving up the M6/M74 at 70 on hard packed snow was well within the capablities of the car, would have been nicer to have rested the accelerator leg too!

Probably how I've got my mirrors/seat set up, but my Evoque doesn't have a blind spot.

There is a point on both wing mirrors when I can see passing cars both in my side windows and in my mirrors.
There is no point at the corners where acar can sit and not be visible. I thought it was because of the size of the HUUUUGE mirrors.

I agree, but I have watched motor bikes come up behind and disappear from view as they sit at the rear corner but the blindspot indicator still detects and flags them.

I guess its all about raising awareness.

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