Hoo rucking fay! About time them pulled the finger out and followed the rest of the world in allowing convex mirrors to stop the lazy bastards who don't do a head check cleaning us up. Now we just have to cater for the even lazier bastards that don't use their mirrors at all (perhaps we need to staple a rear view mirror to their foreheads). From 'The Age': It's time for drivers to take a wider view By Toby Hagon The Age Tuesday October 21 2003 Convex driver's side mirrors are set to become more common here as makers embrace a recently revised Australian design rule. Introduced in April, the rule allows manufacturers to fit the wider-view mirrors on the driver's side, whereas previously they were allowed only on the passenger's side. The slightly curved face of the mirror creates a wider view of the road, making it easier to see motorcycles and cars on the right side. Convex mirrors are commonplace on the passenger's side of most new cars, with a well designed one all but eliminating the blind spot on the left of the car. The downside to the convex driver's side mirror is that some drivers take a while to adjust to the different focal length provided, although -- as with many new technologies -- people get used to them. The workhorse Ford RTV ute is the first vehicle to make use of the new rule, ensuring the higher-riding Falcon complies with the field-of-vision requirements.
What I'd like to see is a split mirror Convex at the bottom and normal at the top or convex at the edge and normal closer to the driver. That way you get the best of both worlds.
Interesting idea, but i'd be bloody worried about shitheads forgetting that convex make things look further away than they really are. It's taken me a couple of weeks to get used to the left convex mirror on my bike. and i figure im reasonably aware of having to stay aware of others on the road (or its my ass if i dont). I just hope "Unky Herb" gets used to these new fangled convex mirrors and doesnt kill anyone else or cause accidents.. they seem pretty common in the US now, aren't they? i wonder what it's done for visibility there. Mike.S
"Hamish Alker-Jones" wrote The left hand mirror on my son's new Merc has a dotted vertical line on it about two-thirds of the way out. It is flat up to that line and convex from there out. Works very well but I'd hate to have to pay for one. Many bikes had convex mirrors in the seventies. Then the WA Gov't made them illegal on bikes because of the illusion it gave you that a car was behind you when it was actually alongside. Is that not a problem anymore? Theo
Theo Bekkers said.... TB> Many bikes had convex mirrors in the seventies. Then the WA Gov't made TB> them illegal on bikes because of the illusion it gave you that a car TB> was behind you when it was actually alongside. Is that not a problem TB> anymore? Doesn't seem to be, at least in my Commodore - the sign says that vehicles are closer than they appear. I'd like a mirror that has telephoto ability - for safety reasons, of course...
