It all hangs here…
There’s an old saying; “If you look good, you feel good”. That goes the same for our vehicles. If our vehicle looks good, we feel good about driving it. A lot of drivers will add things to their vehicle to enhance the look of it, but adding object that hang from the rear view mirror can hurt you more than enhances the looks of your vehicle.
I’ve seen many drivers who hang items from their rear view mirror to personalize the look of the vehicle. The movie “Grease” shows fuzzy dice hanging there. Doesn’t that look cool! If the driver’s view is reduced because of the hanging objects and they crashed into someone or
something, that wouldn’t be cool, now would it?
I’ve seen air fresheners hanging from the rear view mirror. It’s a great idea to help keep the air smelling fresh inside the vehicle, but couldn’t that be placed somewhere else? What about hanging it near the door or the glove box or near the ventilation? It’s less distracting there and can serve the same purpose.
From time to time we will need a parking pass shown in our window so we don’t receive a ticket for illegal parking. Hanging the parking pass from the mirror is fine, but why not take it off when you’re driving and then put it up when parking? It’s an easy habit to form, provided you want to put the effort into building a new, safer habit.
Now we need to address the “other” items I often spot hanging from the rear view mirror. Dolls, necklaces, sunglasses and flags of your favourite sports team never need to be hanging from your rear view mirror while you’re driving. Why do you need to obstruct your own visibility on
purpose?
To some taller drivers, the rear view mirror itself can lead to an obstruction from seeing to the right side of the road. The mirror can block your view from cyclists and pedestrians that may be entering your path from the right side of the road. My suggestion is to raise the mirror up as far as possible so there’s a better view below the mirror. This increases the size of the windshield and reduces the visual obstruction.
You now have to decide; do you want a better view out of your windshield, or do you want to support your favourite sports team? Decisions, decisions, decisions.