Originally Posted by
zacster
On a bike you still can see what's on the periphery of yourself even without looking directly at it. I can also HEAR what's coming at me, with 2 exceptions.
1) When I wear a hood, peripheral vision is very much reduced. As well as vision when i turn my head.
2) In a car you are sitting in a chair and changing your balance, turning etc. won't affect your steering - on a bike it takes some conscious effort and concentration to keep a straight line when turning around.
3) Hearing can be deceptive, as you've said.
So mirrors do come in handy. There are, however, 2 reasons I DON'T use them:
1) One more thing on a bike that can attract thieves - I make it plain, simple and as ugly as can bee.
2) Cars in my country always drive as if they'll run you over, swerving to go past you in the last second. So having mirror always had me scared and stressed - better not to see. Especially since most of the time in places I commute, there's a 20 cm high road side barrier - so no place to run.