Ask Mike: Objects in the mirror
Hey Guys,
When driving, it’s important to keep an eye on your mirrors. As many have no doubt noticed, the mirror on the passenger side has a warning printed near the bottom: “Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear.” Why is that?
At first I thought it might be due to the driver’s position. Perhaps because the driver is further away from the passenger side mirror, the objects in the mirror don’t appear as close as they really are. Sounded plausible, but that’s not really the case.
According to the Straight Dope, the reason has to do with the way the mirrors are made. The mirror on the driver’s side is a simple flat mirror. However, the mirror on the passenger side is convex, meaning it bulges outwards.
This comes with positives and negatives. On the plus side, a convex mirror allows the driver to see a wider angle of what’s behind them. That helps with blind spots. But, as the mirror’s warning suggests, the objects in the mirror aren’t shown at an accurate distance.
So, that’s that. Now on to an even more pressing question. Got any theories as to why the gas tank is sometimes on the left hand side of the car and sometimes on the right? Is there any logic to this? Got a theory? Please leave a comment below.
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Funny, but my boyfriend and I have talked about that many times since his is on one side and mine on the other and this is really confusing. We have decided that if all auto makers were required to be consistent, it would make everyone’s live easier. Don’t you just hate it when you pull up behind someone at the back tank, and when that person pulls out, someone pulls in from the other direction right up to the nose of your car because their tank is on the opposite side, and then you have to back out even though there is someone behind you waiting for your place and they have to move too.
Also, why is the last quarter of a tank so much smaller than the first quarter?
The convex mirrors allow a much wider field of view on the passenger side of the car. Most U.S. cars have rectangular mirrors on both sides. You don’t need to see much width, plus the mirrors can be adjusted up and down, left and right, in and out. Sometimes the driver.s side requires the driver to lean forward or backward to position the close-in objects that may overflow the mirror immages.
the mirror is convexed hence there is an optical illusion
“In the event of a crash, the driver will always protect his side first” -Dwight K Schrute
Im not much of a car person but that quote makes sense. If the car was made in a country where people drive on the left side of the rode then the tank would be on the right because that is where the driver is, or would be. thats my guess, probably wrong though
No theory as to why the fill up for gas tank is on the right or left, but if you’re old enough (or have an old enough ca) it also could have been hidden behind the rear license plate.
And a comment on the passenger side mirror: One thin g I learned from my father when I started driving was to signal semi trucks after they pass you on the left to let them know it is safe to move back over to the right. It’s even harder for them to tell if they are clear to move back over than it is in a passenger car. Just a quick flash of the headlights (on for a second, then off) let’s them know that it’s OK to move over. And, they usually respond with a flash of their tail lights as a way of saying “Thank You.”
Well, first off you would not want the gas tank to extend all the way across for safety reasons. In an explosion the whole back end would blow up leaving not much left for anyone to escape.
Reason for puttin it on either sid would depend on whether the designer want you to load from the right side or the left side of you car. In really olden times, as far as autos are concerned the gas tank did run all the way across the rear and was loaded from an opening dead center in the middle of the tank and the middle of the back of the car. When it “blew” it killed everyone in the vehicle. Very soon that was solved by putting the tank either on the right side or the left side – accounting for gasoline pumps being mounted in filling stations today to accomodate approaches from either side to take care of the left side loader and the right side loader. Why which side was chosen for which make of car it probably because the designer was order to design it that way, by a “handedness” CEO eithe to the right or to the left you might say; or, because the designer himself was with a righty or a lefty in real life. Those are just guesses and they are as good as anyother guesses you might get from other answerers!
Cheers,
Jim th Fee
The side of the gas tank is related to the country of manufacture and their driving customs. If you are driving a German car, their driver’s seat is on the right side. Thus, their fill flap is also on the right, so a driver does not have to walk around the vehicle to add fuel. Likewise for US & Japanese manufactured. Driver’s side is on the left. Fuel flap is also on the left.
(A car’s interior and other ‘trim’ is adjusted for use in other countries, but not the major engineering. It would require two completely different factory setups for domestic/ export sales.)
Hope that sorts it out.
My guess would be that manufacturers would put the gas tank on the passanger side for safety of the driver. If it was on the other side it might be for design or exhaust reasons. A better question would be, Why are there charging ports on the electric cars where the gas funnel would be? Why not where the battery is, the front?
As to the mirror on the right side of the vehicle. If you set it right you will not have to move your head to look behind you just turn your eyes.
I have seen many cars when overseas were the drive on the other side o the rode. They will have the mirrors on the fender in front. When they pass someone the one they passed comes into view faster so they can pull back over. Taxis were the worst on that one.
Big rigs also have the convex or fish eye on theirs in order to help them when backing up. They become accustomed to it. When trying to look back 53 t 60 feet things can get a little crazy in tight spaces as well as going down the highway.
The gas tank. If you are not sure were it is then look at the gauge inside the car. You should see a little thing that looks like a handle with a nosel on it. Depending on which side it is on the gauge will tell you which side the opening is.
I once worked for a company which had a van which had its gas cap under the rear license plate. My boss came to work once, nearly in tears, because she couldn’t find the gas cap to fill the tank.
you see eclipse today???????
I got this from AskYahoo:
Apparently, this question has plagued car owners for some time. We found a number of theories in various automotive forums. Here are a few:
* Car makers place the fuel door on arbitrary sides so everyone doesn’t try to pull up to the same side of the pump at gas stations.
* On German vehicles, the gas door is always on the right so people don’t have to stand in a traffic lane when fueling on a roadway.
* The gas filler will almost always be on the opposite side of the vehicle from the exhaust pipe.
This last theory appears to be correct. Indeed, none other than Car Talk’s Click and Clack, in the employ of NPR, confirm this last hypothesis.
According to the boys, there is no universal standard for placement of the gas filler, but “the exhaust system has to go down one side of the car, and the gasoline filler tube generally goes on the other.” So it’s the vehicle’s engineering design that determines the location of the gas tank. And who knows — perhaps in the future gas tanks will only be available as an option.
Just kidding about that last part.
The theory about the country of origin is bull. I drive a Chrysler (origin USA). I fill on the right side and drive on the left.
The gas tank is located on the same side of the car as the “empty” side of the gas gauge.
Some Car Brands keep their Gas tank in right and some in left. This will reduce the waiting time to fill the fuel in the petrol pumps. You can stop the car in the either side of the petrol dispenser accordingly.
The reason things appear closer in a convex mirror is because it magnifies the image via light scattering. In a concave mirror it reduces the image, making it appear further away,via light concentration.
The reason for the difference between the gas tank fill tube is both mundane and humorous. There used to be a lot of car manufactures. The location of the fill tube was one way to distinguish themselves. This got started by Ford. For efficiency sake, the fill tube was located on the side nearest the plant the gas tanks so they could be driven straight to the shipping yard from the production line.
“Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear”. I just wish the warning would be clearer. Up until 2 days ago, my mother was convinced that the objects reflected in the passenger mirror were actually father away than they appeared. It’s a bit of a convoluted message, especially for someone for whom English is not the native language.
The rear view mirror is the real tricky one. That’s the only one you can accurately see the irritated Japanese ghost in the back seat, which is about to rip your face off.
I think this is a great and simple explanation for all the laymen out there. To really get into the juicy details, the explanation would have to involve diagrams and some optics.
cnocave/convex duhhhh so obvious
Actually, the majority of “gas” tanks span the width of the car, usually under the back seat unless it’s a mid- or rear-engined car in which case it spans the width under the bonnet (hood). Generally it’s in 4×4′s where they need a high ground clearance so need to pick a side, in which case it’s almost always passenger side so the weight balances out that of the driver rather than adding to the instability.
Oh, and as for the mirror, it’s mostly US which have this feature, as the rest of the world can cope with just adjusting their mirrors correctly.
I found this interesting because I have noticed on countless occasions that objects in those mirrors are actually more distant than they seem to be, at least to me anyway. I figured the warning was for people with difficulty perceiving distance in light of the distortion.
I have a theory about the gas tanks, but it’s just a thought:
I’ll bet economy cars have them on the left side because they’re often driven by one parent with multiple children riding, and the parent is always the one who fills the tank.
And I think off-road vehicles may have it on the right side because they require more frequent maintenance during heavy use. When they stop for a maintenance break, the guy in the passenger seat will go fill the gas while the guy in the driver seat (the owner of the vehicle) will check the engine and stuff.
@Mike Snyder
Can’t say that I’ve seen many of the electric vehicle designs, but weren’t at least some of them storing the batteries in the rear of the vehicle? A side port (rather than front or back) would simplify retrofitting fueling stations so that a vehicle could pull in for automated connections to recharge.
Concave would make them further away, convex makes them closer
Gas tanks are on the left and sometimes the right to confuse the driver, this way if they are used to driving a car witha gas tank on the left when they have a car where it’s located on the right side they are confused, and they pull up to the wrong pump and look like an idiot
The gas TANK is nearly always DEAD CENTER. The FILLER TUBE has to be placed somewhere. At one time, some cars were built where the tube come out behind the license plate in the center.
As for how a position is chosen, the answer is too SIMPLE for most people to accept. There is ZERO reason for any given choice. It is entirely the WHIM of the vehicle designer.
Gary Larson did a great “Far Side” in which
an image of a monster’s eye filled the mirror.
The fuel filler is wherever the vehicle’s designer(s)
determined it needed to be to make everything fit.
Maybe it depends on whether the designer of the car was right or left handed?
In a way, it should be on the same side as the driver, to make approaching petrol pumps safer, i.e. you can easily see how much space you’ve got and when to stop.
My first vehicle was a 1948 Series One Land Rover; the tank was under the passenger seat and I had so many hard stares at garages when I would open the door, take out the seat cushion (like a biscuit!) and poke the nozzle under the seat!
Thats funny I first noticed that why before I started driving, when Jurassic Park came out and the t-rex is chasing them in the jeep! The guy looks in the mirror and sees it and screams lol!
I don’t think there is a particular theory. It could be the country of origin of the manufacturer. I feel it is so that everybody does not line up on one side. It is quite annoying though to have to back out of a long queue and go all the way to the back because your tank is on the other side especally if you are by the pump already
The gas filler tube is always placed on the opposite side away from the tailpipe to prevent possible fires if fuel is spilled. The tailpipe arrangement is determined by the engine.
In older vehicles (pre-1980) it was common to have the filler cap under the rear license plate. At that time it was also common to have full service at gas stations and attendants whose job it was to prevent a fuel spill. The vehicles were larger as well, so the fill tube was still fairly far away from the exhaust pipe.
My driving instructor always told me that the gas (or petrol, here in the UK) cap’s placement depends on the car’s country of origin. They are apparently designed so that if you break down due to lack of gasoline, and are required to fill up using a hand-held gas can, you will be stood on the sidewalk as you fill up to avoid other traffic on the road. Obviously, the varying factor is the cars’ country of origin, as the side of the road that you drive on varies from country to country. This makes sense as a safety feature.
About the mirror. It’s obviosely the convex shape of the mirror and boy boy you ask some funny questions.
Now another silly one about which side the gas tank is on.
Next you will be asking us why your left ear wasn’t put on the right side of your heard and vice versa, so as to get better hearing?
mmmm, l don’t really know the answer to that one.
oh, l think the gas tank should be on the dash board maybe? Really!, no matter which side brainstorm. Let some one sensible take your place for more interesting questions. Just my opinion sorry.
TO those who claim the tube is always opposite the exhaust: What about vehicles with dual exhaust? In addition, if you actually look UNDER the car, it is VERY common for the exhaust to run dead center until reaching the muffler. Your theory also poses the question: Why is the tailpipe on one side for some cars, and the other side for other cars. In short, you substitute one puzzle for another.
All these comments about the gas tank being on one side or the other – for safety or whatever reason are all wrong. Most, if not all, cars have the gas tank centered, usually behind the rear axle. I don’t believe any manufacturer biases the location of the tank to protect the driver any more than any passenger.
Just because the filler is on one side or the other makes no difference. And the person who commented that in Germany the driver’s seat in on the right is just plain wrong.
Old Cadillacs had the tank filler is under the left taillight. You’d push part of the light and it’d flip up. To gas up old VWs you had to open the front hood as the gas tank and filler was in there (engine was in the back).
I know it is essentially important to minimize the negetive effects of drive by flashings by allowig the member in the mirror to slowly allow the driver vistim to get used to it’s size and looming nature.
It’s true. I read it in a book.
nö cömment
I think that it’s because they have to make the car differently than each other so to have a change like what side the gas tank is on will make the difference or that each designer has his personal reasons for which side is chosen. i think that the tank should be somewhere towards the middle of the car with the nozzle in the back.
Here’s something to ponder about. How come Americans call a cars fuel “gas” yet we in Blighty call it “petrol”. Surely if it was indeed gas it would mean that your car was running on fumes and not the liquid fuel itself, which bring about another question. What happens whe you fill up your car with lpg which is indeed gas, do you still say filling it up with gas,? lol
What about VOLKSWAGONS?
Years ago (I’m not sure if VW still builds their models this way) the filler-cap was on THE FRONT of the vehicle!
P.S. My earlier Mercury filled from the middle of the rear, behind the liscence plate.
i already knew that!!!
Well, let’s not make a simple thing too confusing.
People need to learn to think, way back when the right mirror not talk to you, people did use their brain? I really believe we still have a brain, regardless of what Schools and Government (who control the schools), teach us!
We did not need a car to tell us what to do?
You adjust the mirrors ( regardless of what they say ) to see your blind side, most likely the car @ your rear right bumper, this when your brain says; “Look over your right shoulder!” Dummy? Where is that car?
You were watching it approach from your middle mirror? You know it there?? Where is it?? Look, use those silly skills you used in the Drivers Manual to get your drivers license!
You reminded of my all-time favorite horror movie:
Duel (1971): Steven Speilberg’s 1st motion picture, based on Richard Matheson’s novella of the same
title. A psychopatchic truck driver (Cary Loftin) tries
to kill a travelling business man (Dennis Weaver). Because of the brilliant direction of photography, the truck is never as near as it would seem to appear.
IMHO the fueling efficiency idea makes the most sense – cars with alternating gas tank sides makes gas station filling easier and quicker, because you don’t have to back into a fueling station pump, you can alternately go head in.
this works solely w. two different entry-ways to the gas station. otherwise, the people would just pull up to the farthest away pump from the entry point in deference to someone else comin’ in.
I’m sure this is not the ‘real’ reason, but it makes the most sense and we should keep it this way – ((as if WE have any say:)
My theory on why the petrol tanks are sometimes on differing sides of the car is pretty simple, it just makes it an easier and faster process to get fueled up.
Think about it, if everyone had their tanks on one side, then they could only use half the petrol bowsers at the service station.
Yes, the stations could be made so that there are more bays and bowsers, but that increases the amount of risk of a person hitting a pump, and dosent facilitate for people coming in from the other side of the road.
By having bowsers and tanks on both sides, theres an even spread of people to use each bay, so the line moves faster and you can get your fuel and leave more efficiently.
im not sure why the gas tank is on different sides of different cars….. but if its annoying to those that pull up to the gas station and realize they pulled up wrong there is a simple solution:
)
* look at the gas gauge on your dashboard, there is an arrow beside the full to empty gauge that shows you what side its on.
the theory about the gas gauge is not true either
i drive a lincoln town car 2010 and the gas gauge is on the right and the opening is on the left
to answer one of the questions in the comments, gas tanks have a shape like this
___________________
| \
| \
| /
|__________ __/
|__________|
ish… its hard to draw with lil lines and slashes… so the sensor is just a normal level sensor, and the bottom part of your tank is typicaly smaller.
as for the side the tank is on… i am not sure, i work with cars alot, my theory is some cars have asian, european original sketches, and for america, some of the people only switch the stearing column, and pedals, and nothing underneath the car. however, their are many cars with 2 tanks, the tanks have one on the left, and one on the right, but both fill stations are on the same side
Did you know that J.C.Whitney sells a mirror for Harleys that says, “Caution:Assholes in mirror are closer than they appear.” You thing I’m joking? I’m not.
lol
The convex mirror thing works because light is reflecting off of the mirror on so many different angles, and it does provide a wider view on a small mirror. I would think that the reason they have gas tanks on both sides is so that they can be more efficient at gas stations and so that more people can fill up at the same time. If every one had gas tanks on one side, then not as many people would be able to fill up. Either that or the vehicles would have to be facing opposite ways from each other which is not and idea that is generally liked.
I’m dont have my lisence yet, but I think I have a pretty decent theory on the whole thing. Cars are made in different countries, right? Like my family is Canadian, but my dad and step-mom drive German cars, and I think my mom’s is American or something. And in different countries, people drive on different sides of the street. For example, Canada and England (In Canada you drive on the right side of the road, but in England you drive wrong side of the road… or the left side). So companies make cars for whatever side of the road they want to drive on. There may be huge flaws in my theory, considering I’ve never sat behind the wheel, nevermind having to get gas. But at least we can all agree that gas costs WAY too much
before i read this i thought that this was a no-brainer…. obviously i was in for a surprise.
Quite a few years ago there was a huge thing where people were going to sit back in their cars while pumping gas mainly in the winter time and causing fires and explosions. Since then more and more gas tanks seem to be on the passenger side.
I’m fair sure that our car has it’s tank at the back behind the plate if I’m not mistaken.
That’s for blondes
the whole gas tank thing is a widely curious thing, there are good reason though why the fill hole are on opposite sides of the car.
In America, A car is made with the drivers wheel and setting on the left side with the gas tank fill hole on the left so that when the driver gets out, they don’t have to walk all around there car.
In Europe, A car is made with the drivers wheel and setting on the right side with the gas tank fill hole on the right for the same reason.
When a European car comes to America they have to change the dash to accomidate the left hand drivers, which cost money, so they leave the gas tank where it is.
Any other country of car manufacturer can have gas tanks on either side, it’s determined by where they think the car will sell more.
North America and Europe are the two major places manufacturers look at when designing a car because of the value of the money compared to other countrys. it’s way more likely these places will buy a new car then, let’s say China, where the value of the money would make the car twice or three times as much to purchase in that country with their currency.
hope that helps…
And theres me thinking Meatloaf made up the bit about the mirror.
My Volvo has a right hand filler cap, my wifes Toyota has a left hand filler cap. They both have right hand driver seats.
But in both cars the exhaust is on the other side from the filler cap.
Now make sense of that lot.
it means when you see something in that mirror that is really far away it will appear to be closer
The reason why some cars have gas tanks on the right or left is because it depends on the model’s brand’s origin. For example, something like Toyota will always have it on the right side, because in Japan people drive on the left side of the road… meaning when they pull up for gas, it’s more convenient for them to get it from the opposite side of the driver. If you have a German car, they drive on the right side of the road.. so it’s the opposite. The Japanese just bother with changing the steering wheel, not the gas tanks.
American cars have it the same way as German cars, but of course we have brands from all over the world. So we get different gas tanks.
Objects in the mirror are cooler than in reality
Gas tank positioning tells you if the car is meant for women or men. Gas tank on the passenger side means its a chick car, they pull up to that side and the man gets out and pumps the gas……..don’t know how true it is but it does make sense
Back in the day, autos made in the U.S. had the fule filler port on the left side because in the U.S.we KEEP RIGHT when we drive.Filling stations often had signs at the end of the islands telling drivers to keep right when they pulled up to the pump.
I have never seen any car mirror with a legend referring to objects being closer than they appear. This is probably something local to whatever country you are in, because the distance distorting effect of a wide-angle mirror is well known in the UK.
There have not been any incidents recorded where mis-reading a mirror has been responsible, so a ‘reminder’ isn’t considered necessary.
In fact, it could be a distraction or obstruct an aproaching object so any writing on the mirror could potentially add more danger than it claims to remove.
Is there any objective evidence to show that this writing actually contributes to safety? Or is it just another knee jerk reaction by paranoid car makers who are afraid of legal action that may be taken by incompetent drivers?
As has been said, it depends on which side of the road people drive on where the car was made.
Here is a question I would like to know the answer to. In the UK, US, and everywhere else you mount a horse on the left hand side. This is why we drive on the left. Also, in the old days it kept your right hand nearer to anyone coming the other way so as to reach your sword or pistol. OK? So why do Americans drive on the right?
The issue about whether a car is built/engineered /sold most in a LHD or RHD country is a red herring.
My current car is a Hyundai i30. Engineered in Korea (LHD), built in the Czech Republic (LHD), greatest sales in continental Europe (LHD), and the fuel-filler is on the left.
My previous car was a Renault Mégane. Engineered in France (LHD), built in Spain (LHD), greatest sales in France and Spain (both LHD), and the fuel-filler was on the right.
Previous to these I had two Rovers, a Metro and a 200. Both were designed, engineered, built and mostly sold in Britain (RHD). The Metro had the fuel filler on the right, and the 200 had it on the left.
So why hasn’t any car company made a car that fills a single tank from both sides so it doesn’t matter where you pull up at the pumps. I say a single tank cause my old ’84 Chevy Custom Deluxe 20 had dual tanks and their fillers were on opposite sides.
Ahh… those were the days. I had 40 gallons total capacity and paid less than that to fill it.
The gas tank is on the drivers side of American made, foreign made, they would be on the drivers side, but if the car is in America, it’s on the passenger side.
because the steering wheel has been moved to the left in America. but the tank remains on the right.
The side is indicated on the dashboard. Look at the icon of the pump on the gas gauge. The hose on that icon is on the same side as the filler on the car. Always.