Where are the rearview mirrors located on a car?
5 Answers
Rearview mirrors are divided into interior rearview mirrors and exterior rearview mirrors. The interior rearview mirror is located on the inside of the car's windshield, while the exterior rearview mirrors are positioned on both sides of the front end of the car. The interior rearview mirror is used to observe rear passengers, especially children in the back seat. It can also be used to judge distance, assist in turning, and observe vehicles behind during emergency braking. The exterior rearview mirrors serve two purposes: observing the surrounding traffic and road conditions around the vehicle, and monitoring the surroundings while driving to facilitate turning or lane changes. During emergency braking, checking the exterior rearview mirrors allows the driver to see if there is a vehicle following too closely behind. This helps in adjusting the braking force appropriately based on the distance ahead or considering a lane change to provide sufficient space for the following vehicle, thereby avoiding a chain-reaction collision.
Actually, there are three rearview mirrors on a car, and their positions are particularly crucial. Right in front of the driver's position, on the windshield, there is an interior rearview mirror. While driving, you can easily glance up to see the traffic behind you. On both sides of the doors, there are exterior rearview mirrors—the left one is positioned slightly above the driver's side window, and the right one is in the same position on the passenger side. Manufacturers design these mirrors with ergonomics in mind, adjusting the angles so you can quickly scan the left and right views by just turning your head. Some models in Europe and America even come with anti-glare features and convex curvature. In rainy weather, the heating function can quickly clear up fogging. Before hitting the highway, I always make sure these mirrors are clean, as large blind spots can make lane changes particularly dangerous.
When driving, I rely most on those three mirrors, which are positioned quite scientifically. The interior rearview mirror hangs right above the center console, and when adjusting it, you need to ensure the entire rear windshield is within view. The left and right exterior mirrors are embedded at the very front of the doors, with the mirror surface about a fist's distance from the window glass. There's a little trick to adjusting the side mirrors: sit upright and adjust the mirror so that the rear door handle just appears at the bottom right corner of the mirror. Nowadays, many cars even have power-folding mirrors—just press a button to retract them in narrow alleys, no need to reach out and fold them manually. Once, when driving a friend's car, I noticed his mirrors were adjusted too low—you could even see the rear tires, which actually made it harder to spot approaching vehicles from behind.
The placement of rearview mirrors is quite deliberate. The interior rearview mirror is adhered to the top center of the windshield, while the left and right exterior rearview mirrors are fixed in the area below the triangular windows of the A-pillars. A common mistake made by novice drivers is adjusting the interior rearview mirror to see their own face; the correct position is to have the entire rear window framed within the mirror. Recently, while helping my cousin inspect his car, I specifically measured with a tape measure—the center point of the left rearview mirror is approximately 1.4 meters from the ground, roughly level with the driver's line of sight. During heavy rain, water accumulation on the mirror surface is particularly annoying, making the mirror heating feature on some high-end models a truly practical invention.
The automotive rearview system consists of three modules: The center interior mirror is mounted on a base at the upper edge of the windshield, securely fixed with double-sided adhesive. The exterior door mirror assembly is bolted to the door panel, with its housing enclosing a multi-directionally adjustable mirror. Modern vehicle models even conceal turn signals and blind-spot monitoring modules within the mirror base—Audi's virtual mirrors eliminate external mirror bodies altogether. During one disassembly, I discovered heating wires and small motors hidden inside the mirror, with gear sets producing distinct mechanical clicks when folded. Exterior mirrors often bear the brunt of parking scrapes, with repair costs easily exceeding thousands.
