The United States Security Academy (NHTSA) has begun testing the first production mirrorless vehicles. Instead of mirrors, these cars received rear-view cameras. The first in the list of tests are passenger cars, then truck versions will be tested. Such a test will allow specialists to understand the behavior of cars, the reaction of drivers, as well as how convenient it is to drive a car with cameras instead of mirrors.
In addition to the main tests, the agency is awaiting public comment. It is no secret that this approach, when the company's specialists work with amateurs, gives a positive result in any testing. The appearance of cars without mirrors is expected both on public roads and in large cities. Applications from General Motors, Tesla, Volkswagen Group and Toyota were filed back in 2014. It dealt with the legalization of mirrorless cars and the issuance of an appropriate license for mass production. In 2015, Daimler Corporation filed a petition to legalize this technology on trucks, and the first concepts with cameras instead of side mirrors have been shown by manufacturers for several years. The legal use of such cars is still allowed only in certain countries, one of them is Japan. Not so long ago, individual European countries received a license to legalize this technology. Recall that the first car in Japan to use technology without mirrors was the Lexus ES. Sales of this model started in 2018 and show good sales statistics.
Following the new Lexus ES, cameras instead of mirrors were equipped with the Audi e-Tron, which was supplied to the Japanese and European markets. It should be noted that in the US this model is still sold with conventional side mirrors. According to various sources, several more mirrorless cars will appear on the European market in the near future - Honda e, McLaren Speedtail and the new Lotus Evija. As practice shows, drivers changing from a regular car to a car without mirrors, at first, can create emergency situations on the roads and get lost in action. Therefore, some companies have organized special test drives and courses so that drivers can get used to the new technology.
