Why Put a Bag on Your Mirror When Traveling Alone?
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As weird and awkward as it may sound, many people out there put a bag on their car mirrors when traveling, especially when they’re alone. You could plan to do the same, but why put a bag on your mirror when traveling alone?
Well, this is not so recommendable. It is important to know the reason why people do that anyways. There are many hypotheses behind using Ziploc bags to cover the side mirrors.
Most people that do this allege they do it to keep off snow and ice from their side mirrors, while some others say it helps to reduce high beam glare from cars coming behind. Of course, other people share other reasons why they use bags to cover their car mirrors, but these are not logical.
Whatever reason car owners give for leaving bags on their side mirrors may sound logical to them, but in the real sense, there’s absolutely no need for such acts. Modern cars now have heated mirrors that would quickly melt off ice and snow.
Table of Contents
Why Put a Bag on Your Mirror When Traveling Alone?
- To discourage side mirror thieves
- To prevent snow or ice from sticking to the mirror
- Prevent high beams or sun rays
- For fear of car theft
- So people won’t get to see who’s inside the car
These points above are some of the commonest reasons why people put bags on their car’s side mirror. But then, putting a bag on your side mirror looks weird and would draw more attention to the car - especially when your car is the only one with such significance.
Covering your side mirrors with a Ziploc bag can prevent snow or ice from sticking to the glass.
Some people cover the entire front side glass (usually the front one since the rear windows may be tinted). This practice is believed to prevent intruders from detecting if there’s someone inside the car or not - so people believe it helps to checkmate car theft. Well, you could simply tint the car and save yourself the stress.
Of all reasons highlighted above, the most considerable is preventing snow/ice from falling on the mirrors.
But if you’re driving in winter and do not want to always clean out snow/ice from the side mirrors, which are actually the most difficult to clean due to their small size, using plastic bags to cover the mirrors isn’t the best alternative.
Instead of covering the mirrors with a bag, fold them in so that snow or ice won’t fall on them. It’s just too awkward putting bags on your side mirrors, and it’d draw more unnecessary attention to the car. There are better ways to prevent these things instead of using plastic bags or any other type of bag.
Alternatives To Putting a Bag on Your Car’s Side Mirror
You could upgrade your side mirrors to heated mirrors - that way, even if snow falls on them, you can melt them off in an instant and continue your travel.
Apparently, you can’t leave plastic bags on your side mirrors while driving, so having heated mirrors is a much better option, and it won’t make your car appear weird on the roads.
For car theft prevention, privacy, or blocking of UV rays, you could install tinted windows following your state’s laws - that’d be prettier than using bags to fulfill these situations.
Also, you can install a security system (and car tracking device) to monitor your car at all times. So, even if it gets stolen, you can track the thief and recover your vehicle.
What Does It Mean When Someone Ties a Plastic Bag on Your Car?
It could mean quite a lot of things, which includes signs of car theft. Some car thieves put awkward stuff on people’s cars - they do this to spot cars that are not driven frequently.
When the thief puts the plastic bag on your car’s mirror or puts tape on the door side and comes back after many hours to find these things still intact on the car, it hints that the car owner doesn’t drive the car frequently. If it gets stolen, it may take time before the owner starts looking for it.
So when you see any of these things on your car, take them off immediately.
