Steering You Right with Sharon Peters
Q: I’ve asked several people about the passenger-side mirror on cars, regarding why it does not give a true view of the closeness/distance of other vehicles. I find it disconcerting to look at the rearview mirror and get one perspective and then glance at the passenger’s side mirror and get an altogether different perspective. No one can give me an answer. Can you?
A: Yes. It is a little crazy. But here’s the choice: seeing things “closer than they appear” or not seeing them at all.
On the driver’s side, you get a flat mirror. You’re inches away from it and if it’s adjusted properly you get to see everything coming alongside the car.
On the passenger’s side, you’re farther from the mirror and your sight line is at a shallow angle. If you were to have a flat mirror there (as cars did decades ago) you would wind up with a very sizeable blind spot. Engineers discovered long ago that if they instead used a convex surface there, the driver would get a wider angle of view along the right side of the vehicle. But having a wider the view meant the objects appeared smaller when reflected in it. And that leads to the objects appearing farther away than they really are.
Q: Do the bulbs in halogen headlights lose their brightness over a period of time or should a person just wait until they burn out before replacing them?
A: They do dim over time, as opposed to burning out instantly, as if flipping a light switch. And that, I guess, is the good news. Better to be able to see a little than nothing at all.
However, you definitely need to monitor your headlamps over time for illumination reductions.
There’s some disagreement here, though, about the prudent course at replacement time. If one light is going bad, should you just go ahead and replace both? Many say yes, on the grounds that it’s more efficient and also you may as well take care of a bulb that’s almost certain to be a problem in the not-too-distant future. Others say it’s crazy to replace a perfectly good bulb because their experience is that bulb life varies greatly and the second bulb could last several more months.
And there’s another complicating factor (or factors). If you’re sensing somewhat less intense illumination coming from your headlights, it may not be the bulb.
There could be road-chemical muck buildup on your vehicle’s front end, especially during the winter months, and that can significantly reduce a headlamp’s illumination.
More likely, the headlamps aren’t properly adjusted. Many people drive for months with maladjusted headlamps, and, frankly, that’s really dangerous.
Finally, there’s a small chance that a wiring issue could be to blame.
© CTW Features
What’s your question? Sharon Peters would like to hear about what’s on your mind when it comes to caring for, driving and repairing your vehicle. E-mail her at Sharon@ctwfeatures.com.
