A math professor at Drexel University, Andrew Hicks, was recently awarded a patent for a side-view car mirror that could eliminate the "blind spot," but the federal Department of Transportation has a regulation in place that forbids the use of such mirrors. Technology Review magazine has the details.
Sometime, by imposing a single uniform standard, regulation has the effect of dampening innovation or competition. If there weren't a regulation mandating side view mirrors that meet certain specifications, car companies might compete for customers by offering better side view mirrors, and insurance companies might charge customers different rates depending on whether their cars have better side view mirrors.
