Category: Blind Spot Mirrors

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Where is my blind spot?

You are driving along the road, keeping a careful lookout for dangers. Yet, did you know that a large area around you is invisible to you and that other road users could be very close to crashing into you before you ever saw them?

You are fairly safe looking forward as long as your window is clear. You can also look sideways through windows as long as your passenger is keeping out of the way.

Have a look in your rear view mirror. Again, if there is nothing in the way, you should have a good view directly behind the vehicle. The problem comes in the area from 90 to 180 degrees from your forward vision. The big problem comes if you think your side mirrors cover this area. They don’t.

Your side mirrors show the view down the side of the vehicle. They show further out to the side, the further back you are looking. If you keep the side of your car in your side mirrors, a vehicle could be very close to your side without you seeing it. If you push your side mirrors out, to catch a wider view, you will leave a gap right next to your car which you will not be able to see.

A vehicle following you will be easily visible in your rear view mirror. It will then pull out of your vision as it moves out to overtake. It will drift into vision on the wing mirror eventually, but may disappear again before you can actually see it from looking out of your side window.

So, as you hurtle along the freeway about half the area to the rear of your side on view will be invisible to you. What can you do about that?

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Do I need blind spot mirrors for my motor home?

Blind spot mirrors attempt to address a real problem for motorists, especially those with long and wide vehicles such as motor homes. They are an essential tool in the search for safety on the road.

All vehicles have blind spots to the rear quarter. Those on a motor home are longer and reach further out to the side. They will also have a blind spot to the rear, usually viewed in a car through the rear view mirror.

The side mirrors can only show part of the picture and it is a foolish driver who forgets that when they look in those mirrors, they may be missing something. The blind spot in a motor home could easily hide several cars or a truck.

Blind spot mirrors mostly work by giving a second angle of vision. They point in a different direction and show a different area to the usual side mirrors. Some have different shaped lenses so that they take in a broader area than the normal mirrors.

They are usually fixed to the existing mirrors and on extended or extendable brackets of some sort. This allows for extra vision to the rear of the vehicle as well as down both sides.

Some blind spot mirrors are in addition to the existing mirrors whilst some replace them altogether.

Try out the various sorts in various configurations. For example there is a theory that the larger nearside blind spot needs a convex mirror to help, whilst the smaller spot on the off side is best addressed by a flat mirror.

They should be adjusted to give the greatest benefit by reducing the blind spot the most. They should also be used in practice by the driver to avoid confusion on the road as to what is being seen in which mirror.

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Towing with a blind spot mirror

Towing while driving is a totally new experience compared to driving your car by itself. You will have a different load, different handling characteristics and a different view. You are going to need a blind spot mirror.

You will be used to looking in your car’s wing mirrors to see at least some of what is down the side and to the rear. Although there are blind spots, you will be familiar with these and perhaps instinctively account for them. When you attach your trailer or caravan for the first time and have a look, you will see this is not enough.

Blind spot mirrors will give you a better view and cut out some of the blind spot the length and width of the towing combination will give. They are often fitted onto the existing mirrors to give a wider perspective. The drawback there is the increased width to your car, which you may not be used to. Also, badly fitted extensions can be a hazard if they catch the wind.

Some blind spot mirrors have different lenses to normal. They might for example be a frog-eyed mirror with a convex lens to broaden the view normally given. The extra light from further afield may well cut down the blind spot, although the perspective will differ from what you are used to.

Blind spot mirrors need to be adjusted to suit the driver and his position in the car. They should be lined up with the existing mirrors so that there is some overlapping for orientation, but the widest combination of views is obtained.

Drivers should never assume blind spot mirrors give a complete picture when towing, but they will help cut down the blind spots and give a better view than just the existing wing mirrors provide alone.

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Blind spot mirrors for the motor home

Many people in the US retire to their motor home for a life of travel on the road. However, you will not get far or travel safely without some blind spot mirrors.

Your motor home will come with side mirrors attached. These will give you a view down the side of the vehicle. Which view you get depends on how you adjust them, but people often angle them so that the driver can see part of the side of the home in the mirror. This is so they know what they are looking at in comparison to their vehicle.

However, that set-up will still leave a large area behind the motor home which is invisible and areas down each side where nothing can be seen. The side blind spots increase further back you look. It is very easy for another vehicle to be sitting behind or in the rear quarter area and be unseen by the driver.

Blind spot mirrors are an attempt to combat this problem by giving a wider or alternative view. The extra mirrors will be angled differently so that they cover a different field. By looking at both mirrors, the driver will be opening up some of the blind spot area.

The mirrors come in various designs. They might attach directly on to the side mirrors just to give a new angle. They might be bubble mirrors, looking at the same place but with a wider perspective. They might be on brackets which hold them much further out from the side. This will give a much wider angle and allow some vision of the area directly behind the vehicle. Convex mirrors on the near side can offer a wider view of the area furthest from the driver.

Blind spot mirrors do not cover all the blind spot, but they are a start.

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Blind spot mirrors for trailers

If you are planning to tow a trailer, you are going to need blind spot mirrors for your car.

Even without towing anything, your car will suffer from blind spots. The side mirrors will only show so much of the area to the rear quarter and in the blind spots could lurk other road users.

With a trailer in the equation, the situation is worse. You may have no vision to the rear, with your rear view mirror blocked. Your side mirrors will probably give you a good view of part of the trailer, but nothing more.

Blind spot mirrors are needed to help with this problem. They come in various sorts and you will need to consider what is best for what you are going to be driving and towing.

You can get additional small mirrors that stick on your existing side mirrors. These are a strange oval type shape and have convex lenses. They are called frog-eye mirrors and although they may show the same areas, they will give a wider perspective.

There are others which may attach to the existing mirrors but are on brackets which position them further from the side of the car. They give a better view of further back and you may get some rear view capability with them. They will also help cut out some of the side blind spots.

Some blind spot mirrors will completely replace the existing with new larger mirrors on extendable arms.

You need to angle the blind spot mirrors so that their overall fields of view interlock as far as possible. Make sure they are fitted properly and will not move about in the wind caused by the movement of the vehicle. Check and note where the blind spots remain and keep them in mind when driving.

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Driver Safety On The Roads

Put your soft, gently body in a metal box and propel yourself at high speed amongst lots of other high-speed metal boxes driven by fallible humans. Not a recipe for safety is it?

So, firstly you must make sure you are in the best shape to be a driver. No drink or drugs allowed and make sure you are well-rested too. You need to avoid distractions and keep on with the concentration.

Your main protection comes from the equipment around you though. There are safety devices to help if you do have a crash. Cars are made to absorb energy by crumpling, seat belts will hold you in place and air bags will give you a soft landing.

You also these days have many extra measures to help keep life simple as you go. You have rain responsive wipers to clear the screen of water and heaters to keep the glass clear of ice and snow. You have sensors to tell you if you are about to back into something and ever brighter lights to illuminate the way, even in fog.

What we haven’t mastered yet is a way of ensuring we can all see all around us properly! It may sound crazy, but in this highly dangerous environment, you have large areas of the road, near to you and totally outside your field of vision.

You have your eye vision to forward and side and your review mirror for directly behind the vehicle. Then it all gets a bit shaky. Your side mirrors show some areas to the side but not others. Cars and even trucks will drift in and out of vision. The only way to be really sure is to turn your head round, leaving you careering forwards at high speed without looking where you are going!

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Blind spot mirrors for bikes

It is easy to think that motorcycles do not have blind spots and so do not need blind spot mirrors. This view is wrong. Even though the rider has fewer obstructions than the average car driver, he cannot look backwards for long. There is no rear view mirror and the side mirrors, like those on a car, will only tell part of the story.

In some ways, a bike’s side mirrors may give less width to their view. This is because, in the absence of a rear view mirror, they may be adjusted inwards, towards the rear of the bike. The wider view to the side and rear may be lost.

The blind spot mirrors can be extra mirrors just fitted onto or to the side of the existing wing mirrors. They might be convex in their lens shape to give a broader view. They may be on arms to give a wider view of both rear and side rear to the rider. They may be specialist types of mirrors that are attached to the existing mirror.

Before setting off, the rider should work with another to work out where the blind spots are and by how much they can be reduced by optimal use and placement of the new mirrors. The process can be improved further by the use of practiced and short glances over the shoulder by the rider.

It is particularly important for bikers to use their blind spot mirrors when about the change lanes. It is easy for other vehicles, especially fellow bikers, to be hidden in the blind spots and bikes, being on only two wheels, are so vulnerable to even the slightest touch. Riders should check carefully in all their mirrors and take a glance over the relevant shoulder before moving lanes.

The blind spot mirrors will not cure the problem but should be used by all bikers.