Canadian Flag Transport Canada / Transports Canada Government of Canada
Common menu bar (access key: M)
Skip to specific page links (access key: 1)

Transport Canada

 

 navigation

 General
 • Air
 • Marine
 • Surface
 • Ministerial 
Responsibility
 • Related Links
 • What's New
 
   help 


  On-line Help
and FAQ
 

 

Employee directory
Employment opportunities
e-news
Forms catalogue
Library
  
Meet the Minister
Acts and Regulations
Child safety
Planning to travel?
Publications
Vehicle importation
Vehicle recalls
Youth Zone
Proactive disclosure
Expenditure Review
Skip all menus (access key: 2)
Transport Canada
Disclaimer: These documents are not the official versions (more).

MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY ACT

Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations

Standard 111



Mirrors

General


111. (1) Any mirror referred to in this section that is installed on a vehicle shall

(a) have a stable support;

(b) be adjustable  in the horizontal and vertical directions;

(c) be a unit magnification mirror, except in the cases referred to in subsection (6), paragraph (13)( b) and subsection (16);

(d) be free of sharp points or edges that could cause an injury to an occupant of the vehicle or to a pedestrian;

(e) except in the case of a System B mirror installed on a school bus that has a forward control configuration, be installed so that the driver's field of view through the mirror is not obscured by the portion of the windshield that is not wiped by the windshield wipers or by any opaque portion of the vehicle structure; and

(f) in the case of an outside rearview mirror, have no greater protrusion beyond the perimeter of the vehicle than is necessary to meet the field-of-view requirements for the mirror prescribed in this section.

(2) A rearview mirror referred to in subsection (7) or (11) or paragraph (26)(a) shall be capable of adjustment from within the occupant compartment of the vehicle.

(3) The average reflectance of a mirror referred to in this section shall be determined in accordance with SAE Standard J964, Test Procedure for Determining Reflectivity of Rear View Mirrors (June 1992).

(4) A mirror referred to in this section that is a single reflectance mirror shall have a reflectance level of at least 35 per cent.

(5) A mirror referred to in this section that is a multiple reflectance mirror shall have a daytime reflectance level of at least 35 per cent and a night-time reflectance level of at least 4 per cent. In the event of electrical failure, the mirror shall be adjustable, either manually or automatically, to a reflectance level of at least 35 per cent.

(6) An outside rearview mirror referred to in paragraph (7)(b) or subsection (26) or (27) that is installed on the side of the vehicle opposite the driver's side may be convex if

(a) its reflective surface area is equal to or greater than the reflective surface area that a unit magnification mirror must have in accordance with that paragraph or subsection;

(b) its average radius of curvature is not less than 890 mm (35 inches) and not greater than 1 800 mm (71.5 inches); and

(c) the radius of curvature at any point does not deviate by more than 12.5 per cent from the average of any five radius-of-curvature measurements made on its reflective surface at least 6 mm (0.25 inch) from the edge of the image display.

Passenger Cars and Three-wheeled Vehicles

(7) An inside rearview mirror shall be installed on every passenger car and three-wheeled vehicle and shall, under the conditions prescribed in subsection (8),

(a) provide the driver with a field of view to the rear that

    (i) is not less than 20° measured horizontally rearward from the projected eye point, and

    (ii) extends to the horizon and includes a point on the road surface not more than 60 m (200 feet) directly behind the vehicle; or

(b) where the inside rearview mirror does not provide the field of view to the rear described in paragraph ( a), be accompanied, on the side opposite the driver's side, by an outside rearview mirror that has not less than 90 per cent of the reflective surface area of an outside rearview mirror installed pursuant to subsection (11).

(8) For the purposes of subsection (7), the vehicle shall be on a level road surface and loaded with the lighter of the following loads, calculated on the basis of the driver and each occupant weighing 68 kg (150 pounds):

(a) a driver and four other occupants; and

(b) an occupant in each designated seating position.

(9) A field of view to the rear described in paragraph (7)(a) may be partially obscured by seated occupants or head restraints.

(10) An inside rearview mirror referred to in subsection (7), if situated in the head impact area, shall, when the reflective surface of the mirror is subjected to a force of 400 N (90 pounds) in any direction that is not more than 45º from the forward longitudinal direction, deflect, collapse or break away without leaving sharp edges.

(11) An outside rearview mirror shall be installed on the driver's side of every passenger car and three-wheeled vehicle in such a manner as to provide the driver with a field of view to the rear on a level road surface that

(a) may be partially obscured by the rear body or fender contours;

(b) extends to the horizon; and

(c) includes a line measuring 2.5 m (8 feet) perpendicular to and outboard from the vertical longitudinal plane tangent to the driver's side of the vehicle at its widest part, at a point 10.6 m (35 feet) behind the eyes of the driver seated with the driver's seat in the rearmost position.

(12) For the purposes of subsections (7), (9) and (11), the field of view to the rear of the driver shall be evaluated by using

(a) the location of the driver's eye reference points for the 95th percentile tangential cut-off specified in SAE Recommended Practice J941a, Passenger Car Driver's Eye Range (August 1967); or

(b) the driver's eye reference points at a nominal location appropriate for any 95th percentile adult male driver.

Motorcycles

(13) Every motorcycle shall have, mounted on each side so that the horizontal centre of each reflective surface of the mirror is at least 280 mm (11 inches) outward from the longitudinal centreline of the motorcycle,

(a) a rearview mirror with not less than 80 cm2 (12.5 square inches) of reflective surface area; or

(b) a convex rearview mirror with not less than 64.5 cm2 (10 square inches) of reflective surface area and an average radius of curvature that is not less than 510 mm (20 inches) and not greater than 1 800 mm (71.5 inches).

School Buses

General

(14) For the purposes of subsections (16) to (25), a driver's eye position shall be represented by the left and right eye points as defined in SAE Recommended Practice J1050, Describing and Measuring the Driver's Field of View (August 1994), and shall be at any place within the area defined by a 95th percentile eyellipse in accordance with SAE Recommended Practice J941, Motor Vehicle Drivers' Eye Locations (June 1997), with the following adaptations:

(a) a 50/50 male-to-female ratio must be used for the male/female mix;

(b) "heel point" referred to in that Recommended Practice and in other documents referenced in that Recommended Practice means the "accelerator heel point (AHP)" as defined in SAE Recommended Practice J1100, Motor Vehicle Dimensions (June 1993), and the position of the heel point is that determined by the manufacturer; and

(c) "seating reference point (SgRP)" referred to in that Recommended Practice and in other documents referenced in that Recommended Practice has the same meaning as in SAE Recommended Practice J1100, Motor Vehicle Dimensions (June 1993) .

(15) For the purposes of subsections (16) to (25),

(a) cylinders A, D and E shall be 0.305 m (1 foot) high and 0.305 m (1 foot) in diameter;

(b) cylinders B and C shall be 0.915 m (3 feet) high and 0.305 m (1 foot) in diameter; and

(c) cylinders A, B, C, D and E shall be of a colour that provides a high contrast with the road surface on which the bus is parked.

Requirements

(16) Every school bus shall have the following two outside mirror systems:

(a) System A, which consists, on each side of the school bus, of one unit magnification mirror that conforms to subsection (18) and one convex mirror that conforms to subsection (19); and

(b) System B, which consists, on each side of the school bus, of one convex mirror that conforms to subsections (20) to (24).

(17) A System A mirror and System B mirror shall conform to the provisions referred to in subsection (16) at any driver's eye position, when they are adjusted in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

(18) Each System A unit magnification mirror shall have a reflective surface area of not less than 325 cm2 (50 square inches) that provides, at the driver's eye position, a field of view that includes a continuous view rearward, of the side of the school bus and the road surface, which view shall begin no farther than 60 m (200 feet) rearward of the mirror's surface and extend to the horizon when measured on a level road, as illustrated in Figure 1.

(19) Each System A convex mirror shall

(a) provide, at the driver's eye position, a field of view that includes continuous and complete views as illustrated in Figure 1,

(i) rearward,

(ii) of the ground, which view overlaps the field of view provided by the unit magnification mirror described in subsection (18),

(iii) of the side of the bus,

(iv) in the mirror installed on the side opposite the driver's side, of cylinders B and D, placed in accordance with subsection (25), and

(v) in the mirror installed on the driver's side, of cylinders C and E, placed in accordance with subsection (25);

(b) have an average radius of curvature of not less than 482 mm (19 inches); and

(c) have a radius of curvature that does not deviate at any point by more than 12.5 per cent from the average of any five radius-of-curvature measurements taken at least 6 mm (0.25 inch) from the edge of the reflective surface.

(20) Each System B mirror shall be installed so that

(a) the distance from the driver's eye position to the centre of the mirror is at least 95.25 cm (37.5 inches); and

(b) the slope of the mirror surface has no discontinuities.

(21) Each System B mirror shall provide a field of view that includes continuous and complete views at the driver's eye position, as illustrated in Figure 1, of

(a) the ground from the front bumper forward to a point where direct observation of the ground is possible;

(b) the ground and the side of the bus rearward of the front bumper, extending to and overlapping the field of view provided by the System A convex mirror;

(c) in the case of a mirror installed on the side opposite the driver's side, of cylinders A and B, placed in accordance with subsection (25); and

(d) in the case of a mirror installed on the driver's side, of cylinders A and C, placed in accordance with subsection (25).

(22) The images of cylinders A, B and C, placed in accordance with subsection (25), that are reflected in each System B mirror shall meet the following requirements:

(a) the shortest angular width of the image shall be no less than 3 minutes of arc, measured using the following equation:

X/D >= 0,000873

where

X is the width of the image of the cylinder on the reflective surface,

D is the distance between the centre point of the driver's eye position and the centre of the reflective surface, and

.000873 is the tangent of 3 minutes of arc; and

( b) the shortest angular length of the image shall be no less than 9 minutes of arc, measured using the following equation:

Y/D >= 0,002618

where

Y is the length of the image of the cylinder on the reflective surface,

D is the distance between the centre point of the driver's eye position and the centre of the reflective surface, and

.002618 is the tangent of 9 minutes of arc.

(23) For the purposes of subsection (22), a comparison chart, such as the one shown in Figure 2, may be used to measure the angular width and angular length of an image of a cylinder, where

(a) the comparison chart is placed in a vertical plane that contains the image to be evaluated;

(b) the plane of the comparison chart is perpendicular to the line of sight;

(c) the image of the cylinder and the comparison chart are visible through the still or video camera's viewfinder;

( d) a photograph is taken at the driver's eye position; and

(e) the image of the cylinder is larger than the references shown on the comparison chart.

(24) Images reflected in each System B mirror shall be located no less than 3 minutes of arc from the edge of the reflective surface, when measured at the driver's eye position.

Testing

(25) A System A mirror and a System B mirror shall be tested as follows:

(a) cylinders A, B, C, D and E shall be placed at the following locations, as illustrated in Figure 1, with measurements taken from the centre of the cylinder, as viewed from above:

(i) cylinder A shall be placed in front of the bus so that its centre passes through the bus's longitudinal centreline and its top is directly visible through the portion of the windshield wiped by the windshield wipers at the driver's eye position,

(ii) cylinder B shall be placed on the side opposite the driver's side at a point where the cylinder is entirely visible through the convex mirrors of both System A and System B on that side so that its centre falls in a vertical plane that is 2 m (6.6 feet) to the right of, and perpendicular to, a vertical plane tangent to the bus's most outboard surface,

(iii) cylinder C shall be placed on the driver's side at a point where the cylinder is entirely visible through the convex mirrors of both System A and System B on that side so that its centre falls in a vertical plane that is 2 m (6.6 feet) to the left of, and perpendicular to, a vertical plane tangent to the bus's most outboard surface,

(iv) cylinder D shall be placed on the side opposite the driver's side so that its centre falls in the vertical plane that passes through the centreline of the bus's rear-wheel axle and that is 2 m (6.6 feet) to the right of the bus's most outboard surface, and

(v) cylinder E shall be placed on the driver's side so that its centre falls in the vertical plane that passes through the centreline of the bus's rear-wheel axle and that is 2 m (6.6 feet) to the left of the bus's most outboard surface;

(b) every mirror shall be adjusted in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations to the driver's eye position and is not to be moved or readjusted during testing for that eye position but may be readjusted for subsequent tests for different eye positions;

(c) a still or video camera shall be positioned so that its image plane is located at the driver's eye point in such a manner that the reflective surface is visible to the camera through the windows of the bus; 

(d) for a specific driver's eye position, the requirements of subsections (16) to (25) shall be satisfied with the still or video camera positioned at either the left or right eye point; 

(e) the still or video camera shall be supported so as to allow pivoting

(i) in the vertical and horizontal planes of its image plane to no greater than the maximum allowable limits of eye rotation specified in SAE Recommended Practice J1050, Describing and Measuring the Driver's Field of View (August 1994), and 

(ii) in the horizontal plane of its image plane to no greater than the maximum allowable limit of neck rotation specified in SAE Recommended Practice J1050, at a point corresponding to the neck pivot point as specified in that Recommended Practice, only after the maximum limits of eye rotation have been reached;


(f) all of the still or video camera observations shall be done with the service door of the bus closed and the stop signal arm fully retracted; and 

(g) for the purposes of subsection (21), the front bumper shall be the forwardmost structural contour of the bumper excluding the fasteners, protruding discrete bumper stops, and any attached accessories such as crossing control arms, which shall be removed prior to testing.

 

Other Vehicles

(26) Every multipurpose passenger vehicle, truck and bus, with a GVWR of 4 536 kg (10,000 pounds) or less, other than a school bus, shall have

(a) the following rearview mirrors, namely,

(i) an inside rearview mirror that meets the requirements of subsections (7), (9) and (10),

(ii) on the driver's side, an outside rearview mirror that meets the field-of-view requirements of subsection (11), and

(iii) on the side opposite the driver's side, an outside rearview mirror that has not less than 90 per cent of the reflective surface area of the outside rearview mirror installed on the driver's side; or

(b) on each side of the vehicle, an outside rearview mirror of which not less than 125 cm2 (19.5 square inches) of reflective surface area is located so as to provide the driver with a view to the rear along both sides of the vehicle.

(27) Every multipurpose passenger vehicle, truck and bus with a GVWR of more than 4 536 kg (10,000 pounds), other than a school bus, shall have on each side of the vehicle an outside rearview mirror of which not less than 325 cm2 (50 square inches) of reflective surface area is located so as to provide the driver with a view to the rear along both sides of the vehicle.

Shipment

(28) A company may ship a vehicle bearing a compliance label or information label, as the case may be, on  which no outside mirrors have been installed, if the applicable outside mirrors and all of the hardware that is necessary for their mounting accompany the vehicle and all of the holes that are necessary for mounting those mirrors have been made in the sheet metal of the vehicle.

 





Established by the CONSOLIDATED REGULATIONS OF CANADA, 1978.

amended by

SOR/79-940 6 December, 1979 pursuant to sections 4 and 7 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act

Renumbered from sections 112 and 113 to sections 111 and 111.1.

SOR/80-439 12 June, 1980 pursuant to sections 4 and 7 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, effective September 1, 1980

Section 111 of Schedule IV; and subsection 111.1(4) of Schedule IV is revoked.

SOR/82-918 8 October, 1982 pursuant to sections 4 and 7 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act

Paragraph 111(9)(b) of Schedule IV.

SOR/87-658 19 November, 1987 pursuant to sections 4 and 7 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act

Section 111 of Schedule IV; and section 111.1 of Schedule IV is revoked.

SOR/88-268 5 May, 1988 pursuant to sections 4 and 7 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, effective September 1, 1988

Subsection 111(10) of Schedule IV.

SOR/95-147 21 March, 1995 pursuant to subsection 3(2) and sections 4, 5, 7, 9, 10 and 11 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, effective April 12, 1995

Section 111 of Part II of schedule IV by adding subsection (14).

SOR/97-463 2 October, 1997 pursuant to section 5 and subsection 11(1) of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, in force November 30, 1997

Revoked and replaced.

SOR/2002-448 5 December, 2002 pursuant to section 5 and subsection 11(1) of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act into force on December 5, 2002

The portion of subsection 111(14) of Schedule IV before paragraph (a) is replaced; Paragraph 111(19)(b) of Schedule IV is replaced; Paragraphs 111(25)(b) to (d) of Schedule IV are replaced.

SOR/2002-55 31 January 2002 pursuant to section 5 and subsection 11(1) of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, into force February 13, 2003.

Subsection 111(28) of Schedule IV is replaced.

SOR/2003-272 24 July, 2003 pursuant to section 5 and subsection 11(1) of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, comes into force 24 July, 2003.

The heading before subsection 111(7) of Schedule IV is replaced; The portion of subsection 111(7) of Schedule IV before paragraph (b) is replaced; The portion of subsection 111(8) of Schedule IV before paragraph (a) is replaced; Subsection 111(11) of Schedule IV is replaced.


Last updated: 2005-03-02 Top of Page Important Notices