Why are objects closer than they appear on the passenger side, while the driver side is not?

[psteng19]

Isn't it to eliminate blind spots?
If so, why not do it to the driver side?

 

[hoihtah]

the way i see it, it's a vanity mirror for the women passengers. 🙂

j/k

 

[Oscar1613]

passenger side has a convex mirror, driver side has a plane mirror. its so you can have a wider field of view in a relatively smaller area (since its farther away)

 

[psteng19]

Yes, I understand the physical curvature of the mirror affects the reflected image, but the question is WHY is it not so on the driver side, but only on the passenger side.

 

[Amused]

<< Yes, I understand the physical curvature of the mirror affects the reflected image, but the question is WHY is it not so on the driver side, but only on the passenger side. >>



Because the mirror on the passanger side is farther away, so the objects are magnified. If they weren't, they'd be too small for the driver to readily identify.

 

[RedRooster]

Because you're closer to that mirror, and you don't need the wider field of view provided by the convex mirror.


edit-Amused beat me to it

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I believe that in other countries it is customary to use a convex mirror on both sides, but that it is illegal to do so in the U.S.