Math professor's side mirror that eliminates 'blind spot' receives US patent

phys.org ^ | June 07, 2012 | Provided by Drexel University

[dr_lew]

Of course some people are too lazy to do it.

I think the tendency is to align the mirror so that you are looking backwards along the side of you car. You need to push the mirror out a little, but then you lose the orientation that the side of your own car provides.

[The Toad]

Pretty much unnecessary if you know how to adjust your side mirrors properly. I've a number of cars and I've never had a problem adjusting the mirrors to get rid of that blind spot.

Driver's Ed teaches people to sight the side mirrors along the side of the care, but that is incorrect. They should be adjusted to remove the blind spot.

It is a solution looking for a problem....

[Daffynition]

[The Toad]

I adjust mine so that the side view mirrors “extend” the view based on what the rear-view mirror doesn’t/does show. Problem solved. I don’t know why it isn’t taught properly.

[MortMan]

On my 2012 Fiesta, I have a 2-part mirror. The flat part is normal. At the top outside corner is a small convex mirror that covers the blind spot. As a car moves into the blind spot, it moves into the convex mirror. As the car moves forward through the convex mirror, it becomes visible in my peripheral vision.

I have been really impressed with how well the system works - I don’t have a blind spot in those mirrors, and there is no distortion on the flat portion.

[B4Ranch]

Convex stick on mirrors

[Nik Naym]

I’ve got those on my Mazdaspeed MX5.