Towing mirrors

Rear view cameras are a good thing but the law says you require mirrors. You are liable to get pinged if you have the camera alone.

PeterD

Peter
The law requires that you can see a vehicle overtaking on either side and to the rear. The normal car wing mirrors meet this first requirement. After many months I was able to get a formal response from the office of road safety clarifying the above. This is standard in all states of Australia. If I can find where I filed the letter I will post it on this site. It is on a backup disc somewhere safe that will turn up somewhere.

Neil

The law requires that you can see clearly down both sides of your rig.

Therefore the inner width between the mirrors should be as wide as the widest part of the rig EG the van.

Even on a 100 series the mirrors are not wide enough to see down the sides of an 8ft wide van.

You should be able to see a small object poked out behind the rear corner of your van.

If you cant, technically you are illegal.

Using the normal car mirrors certainly does what you say but should a small child stand at the back corner of your van you may not see it because of the small loss of vision.

I have both a camera and Aussie Truck mirrors and have proved that normal car mirrors do not do the job.

The law as written requires the driver to be able to see an overtaking vehicle on either side of the trailer (caravan). It does not say you have to see down the side of the van.
The office of road safety advised me that standard car wing mirrors with a rear view camera are a safer option than the traditional wide mirrors.
There is no doubt that wide mirrors plus the rear view camera could be better for reversing but not necessary.
Bottom line is that if safety is a priority then the camera is a must as a first investment in rear vision.



Neil