She says. . .

Press, 24 February 1978, Page 13

She says. . .

Writing last week about rear vision, and the risks of reversing without looking, has led someone to ask me what I think of extra mirrors on cars. Well, in brief, I think they are essential. From what 1 have seen, the interior mirrors of most cars (though they are a lot better now than they used to be) just do not give a good enough view for todav’s traffic.

If that was not enough, many of us make the car’s interior mirror even more useless by failing to adjust it correctly, letting it get smeared and dirty, piling junk on the rear parcelshelf so we cannot see out, or letting the rear windows get misted over or muddied up so it is almost opaque.

Even if the mirror is adjusted, and the rear window is clean, a rear seat full of passengers in many smaller cars can mean that the rear view is blocked by heads.

So the usual interior mirror, by itself, often is not even adequate. The best place for an extra mirror is, I think, on the door. We have had cars with mirrors on both the wing and on the doors, and after several years of experience with both types, it is the latter I favour. The reasons are simple: you can easily adjust the mirror without "having to get out of the car, and you can also easily wipe the glass free of mist, dirt or rain.

Pedestrians always seem to bump mirrors out of adjustment when they walk between parked cars, and if you have got a wingmounted mirror, you never seem to notice until you are on your way. when it is too late to do anything about it. Readjustments usually means a lot of to-and-fro between driving seat and mirror, ao the result is usually that the mirror spends quite a lot of its time useless, out of line.

Another thing in favour of the door mirror is that because it is closer to your face, you get a better field of view. Many small flatglassed wing mirrors, mounted a metre or so from your eyes, give such a miniscule “picture” that they are of very limited use.

Once you have fitted the mirrors, use them. The more aware you are of the traffic behind and around you, the safer you are. The more you can eliminate the vision “blind spots” around your car. the less chance there is of being surprised by a vehicle you have not seen.

And one other thing — please do not spoil the rear vision of others, at nighi, by driving behind them with your lights on full beam. It is illegal, of course, and it is also dangerous and infuriating. It is also far too common. —Barbara Petre