What are blind spot mirrors?

Blind spot mirrors are a cheap and effective solution to watching dangerous hazards on the side of the car that otherwise you would not see.  These are specific mirrors which you attach to the vehicle’s side mirrors. They are designed to show more of that side of the car so as to detect people or objects which would not have been present on the regular mirrors.

In essence, if you are familiar with bifocal glasses and how they work, here the whole set acts as a bifocal glass: you look at either the regular mirror or the special one as needed.

Outward visibility has always been a challenge in the auto industry. It is easy to understand how important it is, yet there has never been an ideal solution for this problem.

In fact, now that our market is flooded with large SUVs, and very sporty cars that look so stylish but are not as practical for the viewing the peripherals of the car. And with a blind spot mirror it seems that the issue has become even worse.

When the car grows more than its mirrors, one can only expect it to become harder to properly see the outside.

What is a blind spot?

Let us start with the root of the problem. Blind spots are regions which you simply cannot see from the driver’s seat. Some of them come from the very design; every pillar, and the window’s base line are the main sources of blind spots.

The others are simply a consequence of the fact that no mirror is infinite: there will be regions right next to it or very distant which will simply be out of its range.

Blind spot mirrors are an important way to address that issue. When you are driving on a street If you are not seeing a vehicle on the lane next to you, you may crash onto it when trying to make a curve or change lanes. If you are at a driveway, it can be easy to hit a hydrant or even a dog or a child if you are not seeing them. And at a parking lot, the last thing we need is to make it easier for ourselves to hit a pillar or another car.

How to use blind spot mirrors?

Think of bifocal glasses again. They have two pairs of lenses to provide different ranges of vision.

In that case, one is good for general use while the other is focused on reading, for example. When it comes to blind spot mirrors, they are shaped in a way that shows more of a specific area.

The most common place to install blind spot mirrors is the outward corner of the regular mirror to extend the driver’s outward visibility. Click on the link above to read about installing them and the best location.

There are blind spot rearview mirrors as well, although they are not so common. They are basically a wider version of the regular mirror in order to show more at the corners. Either way, their use is intuitive: we are talking about mirrors, so all it takes is to get used to them as additional resources. Over time, it will become natural for you to look at each one whenever you consider it necessary.

Why the car industry hasn’t solved blind spots in cars?

It depends on what you mean by “solve”. Blind spots come from physical limitations. The only way to eliminate pillars would be to drive a convertible car with its top down all the time. However, it is easy to think of many circumstances in which this body style would not be practical.

Any car with a roof will have pillars, many or not, because they are literally the structure which supports the roof.

When it comes to mirrors, it is tempting to think that larger ones would solve that problem. Sadly, it would be difficult to drive safely with huge mirrors, and there would always be a region which they could not reach.

Besides that, side mirrors are an aerodynamic barrier; they oppose to the air flow, which may increase noise and fuel consumption. Not to mention that big mirrors would be hideous.

Are there alternatives to blind spot mirrors?

Of course! As we have mentioned, blind spot mirrors are cheap and effective, but only to a certain extent. Outward visibility is a key item in driving safety; it is a topic we cannot take lightly.

It is not enough to talk about whether the item does the job. If it is difficult or simply unnatural to use, the driver will not use it as they should. Besides that, any solution cannot be affordable to only a few.

Modern cars use sensors for that work well. Basically, whenever the sensor detects an object on the blind spot, the car emits a visual or sound alert. The visual alert is usually a LED on the side mirror.

The goal is to inform the driver of that presence without startling them. That will encourage them to try and see the object or person by themselves, if possible, and plan its next moves accordingly.

What about blind spot cameras?

Cameras are useful in this topic as well. It is very common for cars to use them to help at parking; most of them show the rear vision on the infotainment central’s screen so the driver does not even need to look back.

The problem is that the solution is counter-intuitive; it only works in that context because the car is moving at minimal speeds. It would not be safe for highway driving, for example.

Every now and then, the industry toys with the idea of installing screens on the pillars so as to make them “transparent”; the screen would show live images from a camera right on the blind spot. The biggest problem with that idea is cost: it would be expensive to put the idea to practice and to fix or replace any part if it was necessary. It is definitely something to consider in the long-term future.

Final thoughts

After looking at all the factors and considering the different types of products to solve the blind spot, we find out that blind spot mirrors are the easier and cheaper ideal solution for blind spots.

Blind spot mirrors are one of the simplest solutions ever created to aid outward visibility. Over time, that has made them cheap and easy to find too. Those characteristics are surely hard to question. Therefore, if your car’s blind spots are a sensitive issue for you, there is no doubt that blind spot mirrors are the best solution you can apply to that today.

Here is a link to our favorite blind spot mirrors in the market.