Originally Posted by DoninIN

My standard procedure for being overtaken on a country road is to watch the mirror, so I can see when the car behind me applies his brakes, or comes off of his line move around me. Then and only then do I move over into the three feet or so of the lane I've been saving for myself. Without the mirror it's much harder to judge whether the car/truck/minivan-of-death, has decided to go around me or to knock me down into the ditch. The mirror is also key for this when you're driving into a headwind and you can't really hear much of anything coming from behind you.

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

I use both left and right rearview mirrors, in my case Take-a-Look eyeglass mounted ones. I got the idea from a cycling companion who used only a right hand mirror. The additional right hand mirror affords a pretty good rearward view, but is particularly useful:

1. Riding on the left-hand side of a one-way street
2. Riding in the middle or left lanes of a two-way thoroughfare
3. In a rotary
4. On a curved road to the right
5. When passing entrance/exit ramps from a freeway, with the right hand mirror, I can view the ramps to my right, and stay wide of them, while watching upcoming traffic on my left, all while almost continuously looking straight ahead
6. When the sun is directly behind, usually one mirror can be positioned away from the glare of the sun
7. When wearing a backpack, usually one mirror has a less-obstructed view over my shoulder.

My main argument for a mirror, particularly in the urban environment is summarized by Jim’s Law of the Road: “No matter how well paved or lightly-traveled the Road, a vehicle is likely to pass you on the left as you encounter an obstacle on the right.”


One other situation where hearing is ineffective, even on rural roads, occurs when being passed by one car, and I'm never sure that another one is following the first. No problem with a mirror.

Addendum: This past weekend I rode with a companion on a low-riding recumbent three-wheel trike. I just deflected my right-hand mirror slightly downwards so I didn’t have to crane my neck upwards to see him. The left-hand mirror was still in place to monitor reaward traffic.