Tourist in MSN

A few of us mentioned mirrors. Some prefer handlebar mount, some use an eyeglass mount. Some use an adhesive to attach to a helmet. Mine is a Third Eye brand that clamps with a threaded clamp onto the visor of an MTB style helmet, easy to remove to avoid damage when I pack the helmet or carry it in airports, etc.

Photo of my mirror below.



On rare occasion when I have ridden without a mirror, I feel quite vulnerable every time I try to look in the non-existent mirror. It has become second nature for me to put on a helmet and immediately check the aim of my mirror.

indyfabz

See post #10. OP has decided against it.

conspiratemus1

In Ontario, it is illegal to drive a motor vehicle on a public road at a speed unnecessarily slow for the prevailing traffic and road conditions. Highway construction and maintenance activities are exempted, as are farming implements. Transport of certain unusually large and heavy loads requires special arrangements. (Ontario Highway Traffic Act)

The OP has wisely decided for the many good reasons offered against a close support vehicle but he had asked at the top if there were any laws prohibiting it. There are. (Can’t speak for every Canadian province and state in the Union.)

As for using a mirror, surely you also turn your head and look back before moving laterally on the roadway, just like you do in your car. A mirror can be handy to say, “OK, there is a car coming, so that saves me having to look. I’ll wait.” But never say, “OK, no cars in the mirror. Safe to veer off the line.”

Just to be provocative, I’ll say that the main purpose of a rear-view mirror in a car is to facilitate aggressive tailgating. The guy on your bumper knows you can see him—there’d be no intimidation value in doing it if he knew you couldn’t tell he was there. (Yes I know you have to be aware of emergency vehicles coming up behind you. As I said, I’m being provocative — challenging you to critically appraise the information you get from mirrors and avoid over-relying on them. Granted, it’s hard to look over your shoulder with a cell phone wedged between your cheek and your shoulder while steering with one hand and playing with the infotainment screen with the other. So in that setting, a glance in the side-view mirror has to suffice..)

Always shoulder check.

mev

I'll agree with your first general statement but also bite on your provocation

I don't really use the bicycle mirror in way that you describe, e.g. only checking when you want to change direction.

Instead, it is off my glasses and quite easy to be part of a regular scan where I am aware of my surroundings. So I end up looking there pretty often along the way. That gives me a pretty good feel for what is out there - and it will really depend on how busy the road is for how much traffic I actually see. In that regard, I see it as more similar to looking ahead and noticing that a car might make an unsafe pass into my lane (assuming narrow or not much in way of shoulders). Such unsafe head-on passes don't happen that often, but it is still useful to be aware of situations where they might arise.

Tourist in MSN

My neck was flexible enough that I could look back three or four decades ago, but not now.

I have relied on mirrors over the past several decades in various trucks that I have owned.

Yes, if you have the flexibility, turning around far enough to see well behind you is best, but even in that case having a mirror is a good idea to. For one thing I have seen people turn around to look back and by the time they are looking forward again they realize that they were no longer going in a straight line.

saddlesores

mirrors are great.

keep an eye on the mirror to keep track of crazy drivers, especially in
thailand with world's worst traffic fatality statistics!

i like to know if some crazy somchai is using the shoulder to pass slower
vehicles, or playing facebook instead of paying attention to the red light
where you're waiting for the green. or maybe that big old truck is taking
a turn too tight, with the tail end of the trailer across the white line.

also nice to keep an eye on big doggies that trot out to the road to
sniff the passing cyclist, then deciding on a stealth attack from the rear.

conspiratemus1

Good thoughtful answer. So thoughtful I might start using one. (On the tandem my wife uses one and talks to me about what she sees. I still shoulder-check myself before veering though.)
Thanks.

imi

Neon safety vest to be seen and rear mirror to see.

A few times (in 35 years of touring) I have intentionally ridden off the side of the road rather than getting hit, and am mentally ready to do so.