As a youngster, I used to fixate on the passenger-side mirror of our car while looking out the window on family road trips. I remember reading the “Objects in Mirror” quote and not knowing exactly what it meant. Now, as a middle-aged adult with plenty of driving miles under my belt, I fully understand that it was an important reminder about the optical illusion that a convex mirror can create. The wider field of vision and minimized blind spots come at the price of a slightly distorted distance perspective.
I was recently going through some marketing materials and came across a pamphlet promoting the 2002 Acura NSX-T. The first page has that familiar mirror, with the saying “Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear,” and the second page says, “What Objects?” It’s a clever way of saying the car has left its followers far in the dust, but it also provokes a lot of questions.
Rules and Regs
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard FMVSS 111 pertains to rear visibility. Item S5.4.2 says, “Each convex mirror shall have permanently and indelibly marked at the lower edge of the mirror’s reflective surface, in letters not less than 4.8mm nor more than 6.4mm high the words “Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear.”
This code of regulations was made effective September 1, 1971 and applied to vehicles made after that date, so it would have likely affected all 1972-and-newer cars. My oldest car is a 1986 and my newest car is a 2019. I just checked them both. They are compliant. The only car I’ve seen that doesn’t have it is my Japanese-spec 1996 Integra, but it was subject to an entirely different set of standards unique to its target market.
“Are” or “May Be”?
A controversy stems from a so-called Mandela Effect regarding the verbiage on the mirrors. Many people believe the mirrors used to say, “Objects in Mirror May Be Closer Than They Appear.” I, too, have some recollection of this. But is that just because it’s been misquoted in pop culture my entire life? Or did some mirrors really used to have it written that way?
Maybe it won’t matter anyway – at the rate the industry is moving, we’ll soon have camera monitors in place of every mirror. Knowing that we have some seasoned automotive enthusiasts in our readership audience, I wanted to poll you all. Do you ever remember mirrors saying, “Objects in Mirror May Be Closer Than They Appear?” Tell us!