Field of view in passenger car mirrors

Abstract

Mirror fields of view (FOV) of 43 men and women were measured in their own passenger cars. A manual pole-sighting method was supplemented by calculations from three-dimensional vehicle data. A coordinate measurement machine was used to record the mirror orientations and driver eye locations. The mean horizontal FOV widths were 12.9, 25.3, and 22.5 degrees for the left (driver-side), center, and right mirrors, respectively. On average, drivers could see 14.0 degrees outboard on the left and 19.8 degrees outboard on the right. Driver age, gender, and body size did not significantly affect mirror aim. The vehicle defined the edge of the horizontal FOV in the left and right mirrors for 84 percent and 78 percent of drivers in the left and right mirrors, respectively. On average, the vehicle took up 21 percent of the available horizontal FOV in the left mirror. FOV were not significantly different after the drivers were allowed to reaim the mirrors, except that the outer edge of the left mirror horizontal FOV increased to 15.1 degrees outboard. The distributions of mirror FOV parameters were comparable to those reported in an earlier study, but the current data are much more detailed and include the physical mirror orientation, mirror dimensions, mirror positions relative to driver eye location, and other information. Summary statistics on the parameter distributions are provided to facilitate modeling of mirror FOV.