Does anyone use mirrors on private road?

[joeyd]

I live on a private road shared by 9 families currently with a possibility of 15 total eventually. One of the neighbors has installed a 30" convex mirror on a bad curve to help with visibility of oncoming traffic. We don't get a lot of traffic but with cell phones and heavy feet on the gas pedal it can raise the pucker factor at times. Does anyone else use them or know of them being used? We are in a forested area and I do wonder about fire safety. The neighbor believes that a convex mirror bends light not concentrates it so there would be no problem. Thoughts??

 

[4570Man]

A convex lens could start a fire, but I don't think there's any danger with a convex mirror.

 

[Old Guy in Tenn]

Convex mirror spreads light and will not increase fire danger. Concave mirror focuses light and could possibly (not likely) cause a fire.

 

[oosik]

I've seen a large mirror used on a blind corner at Costco. It shows what is coming at you from the other side of the building.

 

[NorTracNY]

Zero risk of fire with a convex mirror. Focus of the light will always be virtual.

 

[ovrszd]

I believe I would visit the neighbor and offer to pay for part of the mirror. He's done everyone a favor and would appreciate support.

 

[bigtiller]

There were mirrors at busy intersections inside the buildings where I worked. The traffic there was forklifts. They did help sometimes but it seamed that a lot of drivers never looked at them because they forgot to or because they were always dirty. It was hard to see a moving forklift in a dirty mirror especially if their lights weren't on. I seldom ever seen a pedestrian in the mirror.

If the mirror is clean, everyone has their lights on and you don't forget to look at the mirror, they work great. Pedestrians need to yield to the vehicle for their own safety.

I don't have any experience with one outside.

 

[joeyd]

I believe I would visit the neighbor and offer to pay for part of the mirror. He's done everyone a favor and would appreciate support.

We have a road association and if the mirror helps the way he thinks it will I am sure we will vote to pay for it. As it stands it is in "test" mode and we will wait and see originally he wanted to buy and place 4 mirrors around the road without association approval. The mirrors are about $150.00 each and I thought he was jumping the gun putting 4 up. BTW the mirror is not on his property he installed it on a parcel owned by an out of state member. The association does have an easement for the road that includes maintenance and repair, he felt this fell under improvement.

 

[PILOON]

We installed one a few years back at a blind corner.
Problem was it became a target for kids with air rifles so it is no longer.

 

[gwstang]

Way back in '75, I was Navy on Okinawa and they had lots of those convex mirrors on many streets/roads. I really liked them as they did a good job of allowing to see around a corner. A lot of those streets were probably just cart paths and very tiny strips of street until we showed up in WWII. The mirrors helped a lot. Neat idea on your neighbors part.