Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
While one may not agree with the utility of a mirror, it's always disheartening to me to read of active discouragement of the practice
Such drama! I did not discourage mirror use but I do believe that mirror use should be *secondary* to a shoulder check. Riding without looking back when changing lanes is like a mild form of russian roulette.
IMO shoulder checks also have their drawbacks, such as limited rotation of the head and torso, distraction of forward vision, possible deviation of the handlebars as one twists;
It takes less than a second to do a shoulder check and
if a rider is incapable of maintaining their line while doing a shoulder check they should not be riding in traffic. Mirrors have significant blind spots and limited field of views. While mirrors are useful when cycling on high-speed roads
with clear sight lines they are, IMO, essentially useless when negotiating dynamic and dense urban traffic.
whereas a mirror does allow easy and frequent rearward monitoring to anticipate problems.
People who cycle for a living almost never use mirrors. In fact, there is little
actual evidence that mirrors significantly reduce risk.