The Rise of Side-View Mirror Cameras
Camera systems installed where side mirrors would typically be attached are connected with digital side-view monitors that display live video to displays within the vehicle, helping reduce blind spots while being integrated with advanced driver assistance systems.
Camera systems offer drivers multiple benefits that go beyond visibility enhancement; they also make parking simpler, which has led them to become an attractive alternative to side-view mirrors.
How Do Cameras Work?
These cameras, mounted to the doors or A-pillar like traditional side mirrors, stream live video output to displays within the vehicle, enabling drivers to better minimise blind spots when driving or changing lanes, even when signaling or signalling for other road users.
Cameras also help reduce aerodynamic drag, leading to improved fuel efficiency. Audi claims its e-tron electric SUV’s virtual exterior mirrors lower its coefficient of drag to 0.27, providing greater range.
Cameras can help elderly drivers with poor eyesight, including presbyopia (an eye condition which worsens with age and causes farsightedness), by increasing visibility. By doing this, this technology may prevent collisions when turning, parking and backing up.
How Do They Reduce Blind Spots?
Additionally, camera systems can reduce glare from other vehicle headlights – particularly beneficial when driving through tunnels or nighttime traffic.
Studies have shown that cameras can effectively replace traditional side mirrors without diminishing driver safety or efficiency. They achieve this by offering an undistorted view of their vehicle’s surroundings without distortions associated with traditional mirrors.
Your truck camera provides a more accurate view of its surroundings, which may help prevent sideswipe accidents and improve fuel economy. Furthermore, using cameras instead of mirrors reduces air resistance significantly and increases vehicle fuel economy.
How Do They Help With Lane Changes?
An imaging system mounted to the side mirror of your car can help eliminate blind spots by showing you exactly what is around you, including other vehicles in nearby lanes. Furthermore, this allows sleeker vehicle designs and can integrate with safety systems to increase driver awareness.
Drivers still must look at both the road and their own mirrors to gain the peripheral vision required for safe driving, since cameras often display image distortion or are less adept at seeing objects in rain or darkness.
Research has demonstrated that cameras can serve as an effective replacement for traditional side mirrors and help reduce lane change crashes.
How Do They Help With Reversing?
Car manufacturers can utilize advanced technologies to decrease blind spots and make their vehicles safer, using cameras instead of traditional side mirrors and offering better field of vision for drivers. Furthermore, such cameras may also be integrated into advanced driver assistance systems to further increase safety.
Cameras offer another advantage by creating less drag than conventional mirrors, helping improve both aerodynamics and fuel efficiency of vehicles. This is particularly advantageous when operating larger trucks which may be hard to control with large blind spots. Furthermore, drivers can view camera footage directly on their infotainment screen for easier and safer lane changes while mitigating any effects of glare from other vehicles and headlights.
How Do They Help With Parking?
Parking can be one of the more difficult driving tasks to master, and with cameras installed instead of side mirrors drivers are now able to view everything behind their truck to help prevent accidents and ensure safe backing into parking spots.
Cameras also help reduce air resistance compared to traditional mirrors, leading to improved aerodynamics and fuel economy. Furthermore, cameras can be programmed to minimize glare from high beams on the road.
Cameras offer many advantages for older vehicles. Aftermarket mirror camera systems can easily connect to a monitor in the dashboard for effortless use and installation.
How Do They Help With Traffic?
Cameras feed images captured outside the vehicle into displays inside, replacing reflective side mirrors. Similar to backup cameras that have become standard equipment on many light vehicles and have proven successful at reducing backover crashes, camera-feeds offer images from outside to displays inside for display within.
At Bence Law Firm, we welcome any technology that makes roads safer for drivers; however, it will take time for people to adjust.
As an interim measure, we encourage all drivers to investigate the features of truck camera systems. An effective camera should be easy for a driver to operate while providing them with an unobstructed view behind their truck.
