Neat accessory mirrors

[ex-Gooserider]

A few days ago, I purchased and installed a set of accessory mirrors that were highly recommended by my adaptive driving instructor... Definitely a good deal, albeit a bit on the expensive side.... They make highway driving much easier, especially if you have trouble turning to look for safe lane changing space, either because of disability, or because your arms are busy with the hand controls....

They are called "SmartMirrors" and they are sold by a company called Skid Monster that is also associated with an outfit that does driver training manuals and so forth... Their "Skid Monster" looks like a neat gizmo that I'd love to take for a spin (out) but that's a separate subject...

These mirrors are essentially a variant on the wide angle spot mirrors that one can put on regular mirrors to give a bigger (but distorted) view, but they have a little special feature that makes them much better. They are a square cornered mirror that goes in the lower outside corner of your normal sideview mirrors, and etched into the surface is a square "safety box". The optics on the mirror are such that if you look in the mirror before changing lanes, if the cars in the next lane over are far enough back to allow a safe lane change, they will appear inside the box. If they are outside the box, they are to close for a safe lane change (and they may be NEXT to you) They totally eliminate the blind spot you get with most mirrors - I can often look at a car in the mirror, then look a little further over and see that it is next to me, or even passing...

Amazingly effective... Only drawback is that with shipping, they are about $25 US - compared to the usual blind spot stickons that are $3-5 in the local auto parts store... Still worth it though, they are THAT good!

Don't know if they would work for the UK "wrong side" drivers, but I can't think of any reason why they wouldn't...

ex-Gooserider

[Burgerman]

My UK car is LHD anyway!

[ex-Gooserider]

My UK car is LHD anyway!

True, but I was thinking more in terms of the RHD vehicles - the sight paths would be essentially mirror images of what they are in a LHD car, so I'd think they would work the same way. At least I can't tell that there is any difference between the optical curves on the right and left mirrors, although they are shaped differently - the lower outside corner is radiused on each one, in order to make it fit most mirrors better.

ex-Gooserider