Rearview mirror does the light work for you

OK, so do you know the name of that thing that's on the bottom of your rearview mirror that you use to change it from day-view to night? Well, neither do I. I'm not even sure it has a name. But you don't have to worry about either of those things anymore—the name of the thing or the actual dimming of the mirror.

Gentex has one of the answers for you, an auto-dimming rearview mirror. It has smarts all its own, in addition to a light-sensitive sensor, and can determine when the driver behind you has his brights on, responding by switching the mirror for you. No more Troxler Effect for you! (That's the afterimage blind spot that you get from seeing bright lights in an undimmed mirror.)

And where can you get one of these fancy-shmancy mirrors, you ask? Well, the easiest way to get one right now is to buy a new car—seriously. Nearly every major auto manufacturer offers the mirror as an option on some of their models. If I had a choice, I wouldn't get a plain old Ford Escape just because it had this kind of safety device in it. Now an Alfa Romeo I could get excited about.