Mirrors have a reputation for being unreliable. “Smoke and mirrors” is shorthand for the various arts of misdirection employed by stage magicians to deceive their audiences, and funhouse mirrors are well-known for their ability to bend and warp light to twist reflections into ridiculous forms. Cameras, on the other hand, are generally trusted – the “camera never lies”, as the saying goes, and photographic evidence is often admissible in court. The obvious question, then, is why do most people rely on mirrors when driving, rather than rear vision cameras?
On the road, accuracy and reliability are paramount to safety. It’s not the sort of thing that you compromise on – you wear a seatbelt, stay sober, and stop at red lights because if you break these rules, people can get hurt or die. But the vast majority of people use side mirrors and rear view mirrors to monitor the road behind them, even though our culture is well aware of the ways in which mirrors can present an inaccurate image of reality. Taking this into consideration, it is far more sensible to use a reversing camera to get a clear, reliable view of what’s behind your vehicle.
The advantages of a reversing camera kit over conventional mirrors are well-documented. They present a far less skewed picture of obstacles behind your vehicle, and this includes a length scale that is a superior alternative to the standard practice of guessing distances with mirrors. They also work at night, when mirrors are liable to either be useless because of the darkness or dangerous because they reflect overly-bright headlights. Not only that, but cameras are suitable for larger vehicles like trucks or motor homes, and are also compatible with trailers such as caravans, which in days gone by were extremely hard to navigate given the inapplicability of mirrors.
