Effects of driver-side mirror type on lane-change accidents

Juha Luoma, M. Sivak, M. Flannagan

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview Article

    9 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This quasi-experiment was designed to investigate the effects of the type of driver-side mirror on lane-change accidents.
    The analysis was based on 407 accidents reported from 1987 to 1992 to Finnish insurance companies, for vehicles with passenger-side convex mirrors and one of three types of driver-side mirrors (flat, convex or multiradius).
    The results showed that there was no difference between the multiradius and convex mirrors in the frequencies of lane-change accidents to the left. Compared to the flat mirror, the mean effect of the multiradius and convex mirror was a 22% decrease. However, the statistical strength of the data was low; 95% confidence interval ranged from a 51% decrease to a 25% increase. This result was not related to driver characteristics or driving conditions.
    In conclusion, the multiradius and convex driver-side mirrors, in comparison to the flat mirror, are more likely to reduce than increase lane-change accidents. A theoretical implication of this study is that minimizing the blind spot is likely to be more important than providing an undistorted image of objects.
    From a practical point of view, the present findings support the use of multiradius and convex driver-side mirrors.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1973-1978
    JournalErgonomics
    Volume38
    Issue number10
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1995
    MoE publication typeB1 Article in a scientific magazine

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