Driving advice wanted for merging with traffic

[Guest]

I find it hard to merge from one road into another when the merge is on a shallow angle. For example, its hard to merge from SE freeway into Blackburn Rd but easy from SE freeway to Springvale road. The merging lane of the latter is on a sharper angle and so it is easy to turn my head and see how close the cars are in Springvale road (the road I'm merging into from the freeway). Readers from Melbourne, Australia may know what I mean.

Somehow it seems harder in the Volvo 850 than what it was in my old car, the Pulsar.

I have a panoramic rear view mirror that I find is helpful for changing lanes with no need for a headcheck but it distorts distances. I can also use the side mirror of course, but once again, it distorts distances, as all mirrors do.

It is even more difficult to judge distances at night, since all you can see are headlights.

I am almost totally blind in my left eye, which, supposedly makes it harder to judge distances (I don't know how much harder it makes it since I've always been that way).

Fortunately, if the angle is shallow there is usually a merging lane you can drive straight into - it soon ends, but gives me time to check while I've got the blinker on and people behind me are not stuck waiting for me. I find I can put my foot on the brake while turning right around to look through the rear window. I can judge things ok like that but with the head rests and pillars in the way I still have to be careful not to miss anything.


I feel it is too hard to judge the speed at which other cars are travelling and how far away they are by just using the mirror and looking out through the rear mirror is time consuming and awkward. There is also the option of putting down the window and sticking my head out but this takes time - even with electric windows - and does not seem like quite the way to do it.

Does anyone have any advice around this dilemma?