It never ceases to amaze me, the depth of the penetration of ignorance and obstinacy in the bike riding community. A poster characterized this thread as informative... how so? All I see is contradiction and self service. In lieu of an actual personal opinion on mirror merits, or lack of same, I will make some observations: mirrors are used on space craft, some of the most sophisticated transportation devices fashioned by man, and when the vital need to monitor the rearward 180* is present, it is not entrusted to video monitors or such, it is down to a mirror to keep a billion dollar Command Module from an untoward collision.
Driver and passenger side rear view mirrors do not unduly distract most drivers... ...
Driver and passenger side rear view mirrors do not eliminate painful... deadly, collisions between drivers... ...
Why do some imagine that the first time they use a helmet or glasses mounted mirror that they should be able to read license plates on vehicles that are 10 car lengths distant??
If you are one of the several mirror praisers who think a mirror has saved your bacon before... oh boy, do you have a reality check coming...
H