New Mirror That Does Not Have Blind Spots - as part of the news series by GeoBeats.
The limited view on most vehicle mirrors creates a significant blind spot. And that is a dangerous design flaw, causing over a thousand fatal accidents a year, which is an estimated 4 percent of auto accident fatalities in the United States alone.
A newly patented mirror design eliminates your car's blind spots using the same reflection principle as a disco ball. Invented by R. Andrew Hicks, a Drexel University math professor, the new mirror will not come standard on any car models but it may eventually be commercially available to be added as a modification. There are currently fish eye mirrors on the market, which help to get rid of the blind spot, but their curve distorts the view. Hicks’ mirror design is slightly curved, but also has “many smaller mirrors turned to different angles, like a disco ball," says Hicks. A government regulation flat side view mirror gives the driver a visibility of about 15 degrees, but Hicks’ mirror expands that to a 45-degree view.
What are your thoughts on this new mirror design?
