Rear View Monitors

A rear-view mirror (or sometimes, rear-vision mirror in British English) is a functional type of mirror found on automobiles and other vehicles, designed to allow the driver to see the area behind the vehicle through the back window. more...

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Rear-view mirrors are sometimes confused with side-view mirrors, a different type of mirror found on the left- and right-hand sides of most modern vehicles. Though these mirrors do face backwards, they are meant to show the driver the traffic to the left- and right-hand sides of the automobile. Inside rear-view mirrors (and driver-side side-view mirror) are specifically mandated by legislation to have "unit magnification" and thus are not convex. The driver is close enough to both these mirrors for simple head motion to be sufficient significantly to expand the field of view. The passenger side side-view mirror is far enough away for the field of view to be fixed, despite movement of the driver and a convex mirror is desirable to expand the field of view.

Typically, the rear-view mirror is affixed to the top of the windscreen on a swivel mount allowing it to be freely rotated. Certain car models have the rear-view mirror mounted on top of the dashboard. When adjusting the mirror, it is advised to sit in the driver's seat in the same manner that you will be sitting while driving. Their utility may be diminished in cars with large spoilers or tiny back windows, obstructions in the back seat or trailer. Vanity mirrors attached to sun visors do not meet the adjustment requirements of rear-view mirrors and cannot be used as such. Inside rear-view mirrors are designed to break away upon collision to minimize injury to occupants who are thrown against it.

History

Although many people imagine the rear-view mirror was designed for safety, in fact its origins are much more varied. The earliest known use and mention of a rear view mirror is by Dorothy Levitt in her 1906 book The Woman and the Car which noted that women should "carry a little hand-mirror in a convenient place when driving" so they may "hold the mirror aloft from time to time in order to see behind while driving in traffic" therefore inventing the rear view mirror before it was introduced by manufacturers in 1914. The earliest known semblance of a rear-view mirror mounted on a motor vehicle appeared in Ray Harroun's Marmon racecar at the inaugural Indianapolis 500 race in 1911. According to Al Binder of Ward's Auto World:

As per the custom of the day, all cars except Harroun's carried riding mechanics who, among other things, helped the driver keep track of other vehicles during the race. Unable to find a mechanic to ride with him, Harroun installed a mirror on his car so he could view what was happening behind him and be alert to any cars overtaking him. Automotive historians credit this as the first use of a rear view mirror on an automobile.

Although Harroun's use is the first known use of such a mirror on a motor vehicle, Harroun himself claimed he got the idea from seeing a mirror used for the same purpose on a horse-drawn vehicle in 1904.

Read more at Wikipedia.org