Suggestions for glare reduction

[ColonelPanic]

Alrighty, looking for a few tips or suggestions from the crew about a nasty glare problem I'm having night, but never really found a solution for. When I started driving, oh I guess that's been 11 years ago, it wasn't that big of an issue since there were more cars than anything else. But, more and more vehicles sitting up so stinkin' high started appearing on the roadways, and my eyes probably deteoriated with age, the problem has become quite a bit worse.With everybody and their soccer mother driving behind me with their big huge SUV's sitting up high and the headlights positioned to successfully blind those of us in our small tin can cars these days, I'm not too comfortable at night. The glare from the headlights in the side view mirrors can be killer at times, depending on how close or far they are behind me. I've got tint on my windows, which helped a bit (not much, but some.) With this and the last vehicle unfortunately, I find myself at times having to tilt the outside mirrors down because of it. Not the safest thing. With the Vibe, I have the automatic dimming inside mirror (VERY, VERY helpful for this problem!!!!) so I still can use that and have to look over my shoulder when changing lanes and stuff (which I always do anyway.) When the offender leaves from behind me, I'll adjust the mirrors back. (Hey Toyota - maybe that's why GM lights up a lot of their mirror controls at night! lol) I hate not being able to use my mirrors, but man the glare can really get to me. Especially when I've got one of these headaches I get so often. It's uncomfortable, but doesn't completely blind me, thankfully. Any suggestions on reducing the glare? I'd probably pay a thousand bucks if I could get some outside auto dimming mirrors! That's THE solution that I know will work, but isn't available to me (or at least that I know of.) I do believe some of the high $$$ cars now have outside auto dimming mirrors, but on my budget, that ain't gonna work! I'm sure a few years down the road, those will filter down to cars I can afford, but that doesn't help me too much now. Other than new high-tech mirrors, or moving the things when necessary, I'm not sure I can come up with anything to resolve this issue. Except quit driving at night, which is a no-go - that big orange thing in the sky during the day is a killer, I'm a creature of the night folks! And yes, I know, I probably need to get my eyes checked, it's been longer than I should have gone without getting that done. But despite that, and even with perfect vision, I'd say it's still going to be an issue. I'm sure I'm not alone here!

[Mr. Poopypants]

Just a thought, but what about tinting the mirrors? Not heavy tint, a 50% might do it. Just a thought.

[sylvainber]

a couple of things come to mind...i only found out in the last year that the outside mirrors should be adjusted so that you see the corner of you car only when you tilt your head sideways (about as far as it will go while still sitting upright). this did reduce glare from the rear as the default line of sight is not directly into the driver's eyes. you can read more at cartalk.com at:http://www.cartalk.com/content....htmli have a question regarding auto-dimming rear view mirrors: a friend of mine has the ubiquitous 'compass' model in her nissan murano. while it's very nice, it does not seem to dim as much as my 'flicker' passive mirror in the night vision position in my vibe. Has anyone else noticed that?my eyes are very sensitive to bright light at night, so dimming is also a concern of mine sylvain

[Mase]

Quote, originally posted by sylvainber »a couple of things come to mind...i only found out in the last year that the outside mirrors should be adjusted so that you see the corner of you car only when you tilt your head sideways (about as far as it will go while still sitting upright). this did reduce glare from the rear as the default line of sight is not directly into the driver's eyes. I agree. I have mine adjusted out the same way. I also have those little stick-on convex mirrors on my side views that give me a constant line of sight. I just lean over a bit whenever I want to get the full view from the side mirrors.

[Atomb]

i was driving in a friend's SUV once and we were behind this guy that put a 1 or 2 inch strip of mirror reflective type tape on his rear hatch window (i think it was a civic)....he angled it in such a way that caused the SUV's headlights to reflect back and slightly up into our faces....it wasn't blinding, but just as annoying as having an SUV follow you!I've thought about this and it may be an interesting solution...if you set it up just right it won't affect other cars (angle it up a bit) but SUV and mini-van drivers will not want to follow you very long!!

[StampedeVibe]

That's a great idea! It'll also reduce tailgating by idiots driving SUV's too!

[StampedeVibe]

Just another thought though, is that legal?

[Mr. Poopypants]

Quote, originally posted by sylvainber »http://www.cartalk.com/content....htmlThat method of adjusting mirrors is excellent! Thanks for the link!

[Mr. Poopypants]

Quote, originally posted by StampedeVibe »Just another thought though, is that legal?I don't see why it would be illegal.