by Stephanie Burchfield
Want
to visit the riskiest place in town? Go to your child’s high school
parking lot 5 minutes after school’s out. It’s scary and “The Parking
Lot Dance” plays out thousands of time each day in cities all across
the country. Think of your own shopping adventures. If you’ve ever
tried to back out of a parking spot and had your view blocked by large
vehicles on both sides, then you know the frustration that led inventor
Lowell Martinson to create ScopeOut.
ScopeOut is a compact mirror
device that lets drivers see cars or pedestrians approaching before
backing out, even if your view is blocked on both sides by large
vehicles, walls, buildings or shrubbery. It’s one of those clever
ideas that leaves drivers slapping their foreheads saying, “Why didn’t
I think of that!” But far from a simple fix, ScopeOut was five years
in the making, created by a retired driving instructor who knows too
well the risks teens face in high trafficked areas.
Parking lot accidents occur every 2 seconds in this country. Large
vehicles are growing in popularity and cause blind zones for themselves
as well as for other drivers. You can’t easily see around them,
especially in traffic when you are trying to change lanes, or in
parking lots where your view is limited behind you. For teens, the
scenario is even more dire. They frequent busy areas, such as sports
events, concerts, events and shopping malls. They have less experience
and take greater risks behind the wheel. Couple that with the fact
that they are often in the company of other inexperienced teen drivers,
and you have a recipe for parental anxiety. Even a low-impact
collision can cost thousands to repair, and the resulting high
insurance premiums can play havoc with your teen’s driving record well
into college.
That’s why ScopeOut is such a handy device that offers
real benefits for drivers. You know what is nearing the back of your
vehicle before you even put it in reverse or change lanes in traffic.
The ScopeOut mirror reflects the view of hazards in the parking lot
aisle—up to 100 yards of visibility-- into the driver’s rear view
mirror. Easily installed in five minutes on the back window, the
ScopeOut mirror safely adheres using 3M tape that won’t hurt windows,
even those with tinting and defroster wires.
ScopeOut is available online from www.sensetech.com.
We installed it in our 16-year-old’s car and I’ve been recommending it
to everyone I know. Now I’ve got my own and my husband does too.