Convex mirrors are used as side view mirrors in a car to see the traffic behind. This is because of the following reasons: The image formed in a convex mirror is highly diminished due to which a convex mirror gives a wide field of view of the traffic behind the vehicle.

A convex mirror bends light as it reflects the light, and the farther away a point is from the center, the more the light is bent. As a result, an image formed in a convex mirror is smaller than an image in a plane (flat) mirror.