# Why do objects in the rear view mirror appear further away than they actually are?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-objects-in-the-rear-view-mirror-appear-further-away-than-they-actually-are/167993>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 11, 2003, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-objects-in-the-rear-view-mirror-appear-further-away-than-they-actually-are/167993 "2003-04-11T07:13:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jammers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@Jammers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jammers)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-objects-in-the-rear-view-mirror-appear-further-away-than-they-actually-are/167993/1 "2003-04-11T07:13:27Z")

</div>

Well?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-objects-in-the-rear-view-mirror-appear-further-away-than-they-actually-are/167993/2 "2003-04-11T07:44:30Z")

</div>

Because the mirror is convex.

At least, the one on the passenger’s side is. If it wasn’t, you would have a very narrow field of view. The driver’s side mirror is closer and is usually _not_ convex.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-objects-in-the-rear-view-mirror-appear-further-away-than-they-actually-are/167993/3 "2003-04-11T08:08:13Z")

</div>

**heresiarch** is right; in order to provide a better field of view, the mirrors are (often)slightly convex, making everything look smaller (but getting more of it in).

Even if that were not so, the image would be slightly smaller as the distance from the object to the mirror to your eye is longer than the distance from the object to your eye if you were to turn your head. But not to a noticeable degree.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-objects-in-the-rear-view-mirror-appear-further-away-than-they-actually-are/167993/4 "2003-04-11T11:36:26Z")

</div>

**Cecil Adams** on [How come “objects in mirror are closer than they appear”? Why not the right distance?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a941021b.html)