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A rear-view mirror (or rearview mirror) is a, usually flat, mirror in automobiles and other vehicles, designed to allow the driver to see rearward through the vehicle's rear window (rear windshield).
In cars, the rear-view mirror is usually affixed to the top of the windshield on a double-swivel mount allowing it to be adjusted to suit the height and viewing angle of any driver and to swing harmlessly out of the way if impacted by a vehicle occupant in a collision.
The rear-view mirror is augmented by one or more side-view mirrors, which serve as the only rear-vision mirrors on trucks, motorcycles and bicycles.
Early use of fixed mirrors was described as early as 1906, with a trade magazine noting mirrors for showing what is coming behind were now popular on closed bodied automobiles, and were likely to be widely adopted in a short time. [1] The same year, a Mr. Henri Cain from France patented a "Warning mirror for automobiles". [2] The Argus Dash Mirror, adjustable to any position to see the road behind, appeared in 1908. [3] [4] Earliest known rear-view mirror mounted on a racing vehicle appeared on Ray Harroun's Marmon race car at the inaugural Indianapolis 500 race in 1911. [5] Harroun himself claimed he got the idea from seeing a mirror used for a similar purpose on a horse-drawn vehicle in 1904. [6] Harroun also claimed that the mirror vibrated constantly due to the rough brick surface, and it was rendered largely useless. [7]
Elmer Berger is usually credited with inventing the rear-view mirror, though in fact he was the first to patent it (1921) and develop it for incorporation into production street going automobiles by his Berger and Company.[ citation needed ]
Recently, rear-view video cameras have been built into many new model cars, this was partially in response to the rear-view mirrors' inability to show the road directly behind the car, due to the rear deck or trunk obscuring as much as 3–5 meters (10–15 feet) of road behind the car. As many as 50 small children are killed by SUVs every year in the USA because the driver cannot see them in their rear-view mirrors. [8] Camera systems are usually mounted to the rear bumper or lower parts of the car, allowing for better rear visibility.[ citation needed ]
Aftermarket secondary rear-view mirrors are available. They attach to the main rear-view mirror and are independently adjustable to view the back seat. This is useful to enable adults to monitor children in the back seat.[ citation needed ]
A prismatic rear-view mirror—sometimes called a "day/night mirror"—can be tilted to reduce the brightness and glare of lights, mostly for high-beam headlights of vehicles behind which would otherwise be reflected directly into the driver's eyes at night. This type of mirror is made of a piece of glass that is wedge-shaped in cross-section—its front and rear surfaces are not parallel.
On manual tilt versions, a tab is used to adjust the mirror between "day" and "night" positions. In the day view position, the front surface is tilted and the reflective back side gives a strong reflection. When the mirror is moved to the night view position, its reflecting rear surface is tilted out of line with the driver's view. This view is actually a reflection of the low-reflection front surface; only a much-reduced amount of light is reflected in the driver's eyes.
"Manual tilt" day/night mirrors first began appearing in the 1930s and became standard equipment on most passenger cars and trucks by the early 1970s.
In the 1940s, American inventor Jacob Rabinow developed a light-sensitive automatic mechanism for the wedge-type day/night mirror. [9] Several Chrysler Corporation cars offered these automatic mirrors as optional equipment as early as 1959, but few customers ordered them for their cars and the item was soon withdrawn from the option lists.[ citation needed ] Several automakers[ vague ] began offering rear-view mirrors with automatic dimming again in 1983,[ citation needed ] and it was in the late 1980s that they began to catch on in popularity.[ citation needed ]
Current systems usually use photosensors mounted in the rear-view mirror to detect light and dim the mirror by means of electrochromism. This electrochromic feature has also been incorporated into side-view mirrors allowing them to dim and reduce glare as well.
Objects are sometimes hung from the rear-view mirror, including cross necklaces, prayer beads, good luck charms, decorations like fuzzy dice, and air fresheners like Little Trees. [10] [11] In some jurisdictions such hanging is illegal on the basis that it impairs the driver's forward view and so compromises safety. [12] Black Lives Matter protesters have cited this as an example of the minor violations used as grounds for traffic stops disproportionately targeting black drivers. [12] [13]
On trucks and buses, the load often blocks rearward vision out the backlight. In the U.S. virtually all trucks and buses have a side view mirror on each side, often mounted on the doors and viewed out the side windows, which are used for rear vision. These mirrors leave a large unviewable ("blind") area behind the vehicle, which tapers down as the distance increases. This is a safety issue which the driver must compensate for, often with a person guiding the truck back in congested areas, or by backing in a curve. [14] "Spot mirrors", a convex mirror which provides a distorted image of the entire side of the vehicle, are commonly mounted on at least the right side of a vehicle. In the U.S. mirrors are considered "safety equipment", and are not included in width restrictions. [15] [16]
Depending on the type of motorcycle, the motorcycle may or may not have rear-view mirrors. Street-legal motorcycles are generally required to have rear-view mirrors. Motorcycles for off-road use only normally do not have rear-view mirrors. Rear-view mirrors come in various shapes and designs and have various methods of mounting the mirrors to the motorcycle, most commonly to the handlebars. Rear-view mirrors can also be attached to the rider's motorcycle helmet.
Some bicycles are equipped with a rear-view mirror mounted on a handlebar. Rear-view mirrors may also be fitted to the bicycle frame, on a helmet, on the arm or the frame of a pair of eyeglasses. This allows what is behind to be checked continuously without turning round. Rear-view mirrors almost never come with a new bicycle and require an additional purchase.
In 1956, the Civil Aeronautical Administration proposed a rear-view mirror mounted right above the pilot to keep an eye when private aircraft are landing or taxiing on the runway to prevent collisions. [17] Fighter aircraft usually have one or more rear-view mirrors mounted on the front canopy frame to watch out for chasing aircraft.
The Ford Windstar is a minivan that was produced and sold by Ford. The replacement for the Ford Aerostar, the Windstar adopted the front-wheel drive configuration of the Chrysler minivans. From the 1995 to 2007 model years, three generations of the model line were sold, with the final generation renamed as the Ford Freestar.
A blind spot in a vehicle or vehicle blind spot is an area around the vehicle that cannot be directly seen by the driver while at the controls, under existing circumstances. In transport, driver visibility is the maximum distance at which the driver of a vehicle can see and identify prominent objects around the vehicle. Visibility is primarily determined by weather conditions and by a vehicle's design. The parts of a vehicle that influence visibility include the windshield, the dashboard and the pillars. Good driver visibility is essential to safe road traffic.
A car seat is the seat used in automobiles. Most car seats are made from inexpensive but durable material in order to withstand prolonged use. The most common material is polyester.
A steering wheel is a type of steering control in vehicles.
A trailer is an unpowered vehicle towed by a powered vehicle. It is commonly used for the transport of goods and materials.
A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft, propeller shaft, or Cardan shaft is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect other components of a drivetrain that cannot be connected directly because of distance or the need to allow for relative movement between them.
The caster angle or castor angle is the angular displacement of the steering axis from the vertical axis of a steered wheel in a car, motorcycle, bicycle, other vehicle or a vessel, as seen from the side of the vehicle. The steering axis in a car with dual ball joint suspension is an imaginary line that runs through the center of the upper ball joint to the center of the lower ball joint, or through the center of the kingpin for vehicles having a kingpin.
A tilting three-wheeler, tilting trike, leaning trike, or even just tilter, is a three-wheeled vehicle and usually a narrow-track vehicle whose body and or wheels tilt in the direction of a turn. Such vehicles can corner without rolling over despite having a narrow axle track because they can balance some or all of the roll moment caused by centripetal acceleration with an opposite roll moment caused by gravity, as bicycles and motorcycles do. This also reduces the lateral acceleration experienced by the rider, which some find more comfortable than the alternative. The narrow profile can result in reduced aerodynamic drag and increased fuel efficiency. These types of vehicles have also been described as "man-wide vehicles" (MWV).
A motor vehicle has lighting and signaling devices mounted to or integrated into its front, rear, sides, and, in some cases, top. Various devices have the dual function of illuminating the road ahead for the driver, and making the vehicle visible to others, with indications to them of turning, slowing or stopping, etc., with lights also indicating the size of some large vehicles.
A safety reflector is a retroreflector intended for pedestrians, runners, motorized and non-motorized vehicles. A safety reflector is similar to reflective stripes that can be found on safety vests and clothing worn by road workers and rescue workers. They are sometimes erroneously called luminous badges or luminous tags, but this is incorrect as they do not themselves produce light, but only reflect it.
A glossary of terms relating to automotive design.
Fender is the American English term for the part of an automobile, motorcycle or other vehicle body that frames a wheel well. Its primary purpose is to prevent sand, mud, rocks, liquids, and other road spray from being thrown into the air by the rotating tire. Fenders are typically rigid and can be damaged by contact with the road surface.
The blind spot monitor or blind-spot monitoring is a vehicle-based sensor device that detects other vehicles located to the driver’s side and rear. Warnings can be visual, audible, vibrating, or tactile.
Parking sensors are proximity sensors for road vehicles designed to alert the driver of obstacles while parking. These systems use either electromagnetic or ultrasonic sensors.
A backup camera is a video camera that is produced specifically for the purpose of being attached to the rear of a vehicle to aid in backing up and to reduce the rear blind spot. The rear blind spot has been described as a "killing zone" because of the accidents it contributes to. Backup cameras are usually connected to the vehicle's head unit display. A common variant is a surround-view system, which assembles a synthetic but positionally accurate top-down view of the vehicle and its adjacencies.
A side-view mirror, also known as a wing mirror, is a mirror placed on the exterior of motor vehicles for the purposes of helping the driver see areas behind and to the sides of the vehicle, outside the driver's peripheral vision.
A sun visor is a component of an automobile located on the interior just above the windshield. They are designed with a hinged flap that is adjustable to help shade the eyes of drivers and passengers from the glare of sunlight.
Towing is coupling two or more objects together so that they may be pulled by a designated power source or sources. The towing source may be a motorized land vehicle, vessel, animal, or human, and the load being anything that can be pulled. These may be joined by a chain, rope, bar, hitch, three-point, fifth wheel, coupling, drawbar, integrated platform, or other means of keeping the objects together while in motion.
Back-up collisions happen when a driver reverses the car into an object, person, or other car. Although most cars come equipped with rear view mirrors which are adequate for detecting vehicles behind a car, they are inadequate on many vehicles for detecting small children or objects close to the ground, which fall in the car's blind spot, particularly directly aft. That area has been called a "killing zone." Large trucks have much larger blind spots that can hide entire vehicles and large adults.
The Cadillac CT6 is a full-size luxury car manufactured by Cadillac between 2016 and 2020 over two generations. The first generation CT6 was introduced at the 2015 New York International Auto Show and went on sale in the U.S. in March 2016. It is the first car to adopt the brand's revised naming strategy, as well as the first rear-wheel drive full-size Cadillac sedan since the Fleetwood was discontinued in 1996.