Student car insurance and the inaccuracies of side-mirrors

Student car insurance holders who are new to the road may still be struggling with a few technicalities of driving and one such technical difficulty which may not be immediately apparent to a new driver is the science of the wing mirror.

Now, this may seem obvious – they’re mirrors – and so they reflect the image of the road behind, subsequently allowing the motorist to be more aware of what hazards are around them.

This is true, but the way in which the mirrors have been made means that the image reflected is not in fact a completely accurate representation of the highway behind.

Whereas the rear-view mirror is flat and gives any student car insurance holder a truthful reflection of the vehicles on the road behind – side-mirrors are sometimes concave and sometimes convex.

These different shapes are only slight but manufacturing the wing mirrors so that they are concave or convex gives the motorist a wider view of the road than they would get if the mirrors were flat.

Unfortunately this advantage comes with a complicating problem. Objects in convex mirrors may actually be closer to the young driver’s vehicle than they appear to be in the mirror – whereas objects in concave mirrors will appear to be much nearer, when in fact they are further away.

This can be confusing to a first-time driver during lessons as well as new drivers who have just passed their test. For example, changing lanes approaching a roundabout may be made confusing by the true image of the rear-view mirror when compared to the false wide-angled image in the side mirrors.

Some vehicles’ side-mirrors will both be concave, but other cars will have a convex mirror on the passenger side and a concave one on the driver’s side to make up for their difference in distance from the driver.

In cars where the two mirrors are different, a young driver may need to take time familiarising themselves with what the images in the side mirrors really tell them. The mirror on the driver’s side of the car will show objects to be further away than they are in reality, the passenger side mirror will reflex objects as being closer, and the rear-view will show (as it does in all cars) an accurate picture of the road behind.

Even in a car with concave mirrors on both sides, a student driver might want to take extra care on the roads until they have familiarised themselves with how the road behind them is being represented.

An easy way of doing this is by parking somewhere safe and watching vehicles or pedestrians going past the car in both of their side mirrors and their rear-view. Taking note of the different images in the side-mirrors compared to the rear-view should help the new motorist become familiarised with their view of the road behind the wheel, and give them more confidence.

Seeking student car insurance

If you have been looking for high quality, low cost, car cover, then insurethebox could be the insurer for you. We’ve helped lots of new drivers get a great quote, and being insured with us comes with many other driving benefits.

To get a quote for student car insurance today from insurethebox, simply click the get a quote.

We can complete the whole transaction quickly and effortlessly with the minimum of fuss and we will organise the box fitting as soon as possible – in the meantime, you will be covered from the moment you want your policy to start.