A Forward Look At Rearview Mirrors

Summary: A new, patented vehicle mirror that provides 260-degree peripheral vision without head movement is making driving easier, safer and less stressful for people with a variety of vision and other impairments-including its inventor.

A new, patented vehicle mirror that provides 260-degree peripheral vision without head movement is making driving easier, safer and less stressful for people with a variety of vision and other impairments-including its inventor. Brad Sawyer, a 100 percent-disabled, Vietnam-era veteran, designed the mirror as a driving aid for himself. Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) has fused Sawyer's spine, neck and rib cage, leaving him unable to turn his neck. With his safety mirror, Sawyer says he can look straight ahead and work the left and right hinges to look in either direction, clearly seeing when it is safe to turn left or right. Easily See If Cars Are Coming "When I've angled the visor correctly, I no longer have to ask other people if cars are coming," Sawyer says. His condition is just one of many disabilities that the MultiFlex Adjust-A-View Safety Mirror helps people overcome, Sawyer says. He describes a 33-year-old mother of two who has had her driver's license for 16 years. She drives herself and others, including her children, safely and securely even though she lost an eye to retinoblastoma, a form of eye cancer, when she was only 18 months old. "I no longer have to turn my head as far to check blind spots," she says. "This tool increases peripheral vision on both sides, the left especially. Dangerous, four-corner intersections are no longer a safety concern for me." No More Blind Spots Drivers affected by arthritis and those who suffer from back pain, stiff neck or impaired vision all enjoy the added safety that comes from being able to see easily what had once remained hidden in traditional blind spots, Sawyer says. The MultiFlex Adjust-A-View Safety Mirror (U.S. Patent No. 6926416) provides for tool-free attachment to the driver-side sun visor for distortion-free image reflection in left-side and right-side blind spots, as well as a vehicle's rear seating compartment. Measuring 123/4 inches wide by 33/4 inches high, and with left and right mirrors each measuring 51/2 inches wide by 3 inches high, the safety mirror attaches to a conventional driver-side window visor. The driver works hinges to adjust each mirror as needed and, in that way, views proximate left- and right-side traffic.