The importance of mirrors in Road Safety

Did you know that each yeah over 1.2 million people across the globe die as a result of an accident on the roads.  That equates to around 3,000 deaths per day of which 17% are minors.  In addition to these fatality figures a further fifty million sustain injuries as a result of a road accident, a third of which are seriously injured.

And it’s not just the emotional cost that is brought to bare, it has been estimated that the financial cost globally of road traffic accidents is $518 billion.  Low and medium income countries make up a disproportionate amount of the total injuries and fatalities – 85%
One way to help prevent deaths and injuries occurring is through the effect use of mirrors.  There are a number of different mirrors that can aid in road accident prevention. 

Firstly there are traffic mirrors which are usually placed either on tight bends or in areas where you cannot easily see if a vehicle is emerging, for example a fast moving stretch of road. Country roads are notorious for accidents as they tend to be built much narrower than conventional roads, as well as having a greater number of twists and turns.  At night, the headlights become the safety mechanism, but during the day traffic mirrors can literally be a life safer.

Secondly there are driveway mirrors which, as the name suggests, should be installed on a driveway or any area where manoeuvring a vehicle might be difficult. They are sometimes just referred to as convex mirrors.

With a wider global usage of road safety mirrors it is likely that the number of injuries and deaths could be substantially reduced.  Perhaps this would not be affordable for lower income countries but for the developed world the cost of installing a road safety mirror would be relatively small.