Category: Blind Spot Towing Mirror

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How do you use a towing mirror?

You are driving along towing something behind your car. It might be a caravan, a trailer of some sort; it might be related to work or holiday. Your normal vision from your wing mirrors is obstructed and you need to use a set of towing mirrors.

You will find many versions on the market and you need to try them out on your car before you drive. Some are sold with one particular model of car in mind and others fit all sorts. You need to ensure you have one that will suit your car.

You can buy flat or convex mirrors. The latter give you extra width of vision but a stranger perspective and you need to consider which is best suited to you.

The mirrors you attach must be outside the normal side mirrors, but not too far away from the car. Different states and countries have different laws and regulations covering this. You do not want to be looking too far away from the car and you do not want to create another obstacle to fellow road users by having things sticking out the side too much.

The towing mirrors need to be fixed and adjusted for your driving. This means checking that you can actually see them and that they are showing you not only the side and rear quarter, but also some of the area behind the elongated vehicle.

All of this needs testing and trying before you set off. Sit in the car and check and adjust the mirrors so that you have the best view possible. Have someone walk slowly round the vehicle so that you can get used to what is visible and what still isn’t. You will need to note the blind spots and keep them in mind as you drive.

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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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Blind spot mirrors for towing

When driving your car, you rely on your wing mirrors to give some vision down the side. However, if you look in them when towing your or trailer caravan, you may get a good view of what you are towing, but not a lot else. A blind spot mirror is an attempt to deal with this problem.

The idea is to broaden your view of the area to the rear and the rear quarter, giving a different angle and perspective on the environment around you as you travel.

These types of blind spot mirrors will usually come on a long bracket. These can be fixed on the existing mirror or its bracket and put greater distance between the side of the vehicle and the mirror. This in turn gives the wider view being sought.

If you are going to be doing a lot of towing, you might consider a replacement fitting altogether. The market does include extendable brackets for mirrors. You can then position them in the normal place when just driving your car and then move them, sometimes electronically, out further when towing.

Another alternative is to fix bubble mirrors or frog-eyed mirrors on the existing mirrors. These give a wider view, not because of their physical fixing in a different place, but because of the convex lens, giving a much wider view from the same location.

Some people suggest anyway that convex lenses should be used on the near side to compensate for the particularly large blind spot on that side caused by the distance from the driver. However, they tend to reduce the size of the object you are trying to avoid so they have their down sides as well.

Blind spot mirrors should be checked for secure fitting before travel and adjusted to give the best possible view. The driver will need to be familiar with the new view and more importantly, the area still within the blind spots.

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Are Towing Mirrors Safe?

Towing mirrors are some form of extra mirror attached to a car whilst it is towing. Any car with a trailer or caravan behind should have some arrangement of towing mirror to give the extra vision needed. Many states insist on this, but what are the dangers?

The first problem is that towing mirrors are not an integral part of the original car. They have to be fixed on and they can of course fall off. There are many variants of fixings and you need to ensure yours are secure. Some have screw clamp arrangements and some have straps. Some use a suction method to attach to the existing mirror. Some have large scissor-type brackets which give flexibility. Some stick out a long way and others just sit on the existing mirror, but show a different perspective.

Once the mirror is on, will it stay on? Try driving around with it in place. Does it wobble or move in any way? You really must not create a further hazard by having a mirror which will fly off as you reach top towing speed.

Assess the size of the new mirror against its method of fixing. Beware of those which will stick out a long way (so creating leverage) as well as lacking any aerodynamics. If such a towing mirror is attached to your original wing mirror, the force of the wind, amplified by the length of the bracket, could easily close the wing mirror entirely, removing all vision and damaging the car.

Once you have the towing mirror on, be careful if its blind spots. They will differ from those you are used to and you must not forget that the area of vision you now have is different to what you usually enjoy. Towing mirrors are useful, but beware.