NHTSA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (not to be confused with NHTSA, the National Ham-based Team Sports Association) has issued a notice about a Toyota recall that affects 1,024,407 vehicles, badged as Toyotas, Lexuses, and the Subaru Solterra. The issue affects the rear view camera display, and while this recall is, I suppose, news, what really interests me is the question of whether we, collectively, have come to rely on rear view cameras over more traditional rear view mirrors.
Here’s what the NHTSA has to say about the recall itself:
Rearview Camera Image May Not Display/FMVSS 111A rearview camera that fails to display an image can reduce the driver’s view behind the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
NHTSA ID Number: 25V744000
Manufacturer Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing
Components BACK OVER PREVENTION
Potential Number of Units Affected: 1024407
Summary
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2022-2026 Toyota, Lexus, and Subaru Solterra vehicles equipped with a Panoramic View Monitor (PVM) system. Please see the recall report for a complete list of models. A software error may cause the rearview camera to freeze or display a blank screen when the vehicle is in reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, “Rear Visibility.”
Remedy
Dealers will update the parking assist software, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk are expected to be mailed December 16, 2025. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available. Owners may contact Toyota’s customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota’s numbers for this recall are 25TB13 and 25LB06. Subaru’s number for this recall is WRE25.
This seems to be a software error of some sort that causes the image freeze or blank screen on the rear-view camera image. Current federal motor vehicle safety standards do require a rear-view camera, so the cars affected by this recall legally need to be fixed to be in compliance with FMVSS standards.
But what all of this is really making me wonder about is if we are now at the point where most drivers expect rear view cameras when they reverse, and if so, is that the first place their eyes instinctively dart when reversing – down to the rear-view camera screen in the dash, or up to the old-school rear-view mirror?
As someone who daily drives an old car with no cameras whatsoever, but also often drives modern press vehicles absolutely covered in cameras, I still find myself using the mirror by default, and having to remind myself about the camera.
The exception, I suppose, would be in vehicles like the Tesla Cybertruck that only have the barest, most minimal, nearly useless inside rear-view mirror just to meet the legal requirements:
Rear-view camera systems have been required since 2018; this means we’re at close to eight years of all new cars having them. Is that enough time to make a subtle yet real driving behavior shift? If you took an average driver and put them in a car that lacked a rear-view camera, I wonder how many would feel uncomfortable reversing without one?
Then there’s the people who shun both screen and mirror and instead just turn around in their seat, arm slung behind the back of the seat, looking all cavalier and cool as you whip backwards through a crowded parking lot, sending shopping carts spiraling away like pinballs.
This is a subtle shift, certainly less dramatic than the widespread loss of the skills of driving a manual transmission, but it’s still something real, and I don’t feel like I have a good sense of how widespread this change is.
Let’s do a little poll here; I realize this more car-focused audience likely doesn’t represent mainstream drivers, but it’s a start, at least. Here we go:
Oh, and if you have a 2022 to 2026 Rav4 or Camry or Prius or Highlander or Land Cruiser or Lexus LC, LS, GX, NX, or, jeez, so many more, maybe check your mail to get this all sorted out.
I usually look for the screen,but that is because I am used to driving vans that either have very little view in the rear-veiw mirror or doesn’t have a mirror or rear window at all. When driving cars with rear windows and perfectly fine rear-view mirrors I tend to just use the side mirrors to see where I am going.
I look at the rear-view camera screen to make sure I’m not about to run over the cat that often runs into the garage when I go there to head out. But the frame of my garage is very narrow, so I check both external mirrors to make sure I’m not going to whack one of them off. I have like less than two inches clearance on either side. And once those mirrors are clear of the frame, and the cat is not squished, I go back to the camera. So, hybrid, I guess.
Look?
I think this is sort of a false premise:
The first car I was ever in with a backup camera was in 2002. Sure they weren’t required until 2018, but they were certainly common well before then. So for a large chunk of the population, it’s been way more than 8 years for a shift.
Given the stats on small children getting backed over, I also decided in 2014(ish) I would never own another car without a backup camera. No matter how attentive and mirror-checking I am, why take the risk?
Yeah. My 2017 Accord has a rear-view camera. I appreciate it. My comment above describes how I use it.
It also has a camera in the right-hand external mirror that was activated with the turn signal lever clicked to the right. They discontinued doing that, which is too bad. It was nice, but I still turned my head and made sure I could see the license plate of trucks I passed in the main rear-view mirror. Those guys have a hard enough job without me cutting them off.
Even that was probably not enough space for them to not clobber me if I had to brake hard. The right-hand side camera superimposed markings of how far ahead one was of whatever was behind one. I think it was a bit too conservative.
Never got honked at and never rear-ended, so, so far so good.
Living in Texas, it was a little disturbing that commercial trucks could legally go as fast as cars. There are stretches of I-10 west of San Antonio where the speed limit is 80. Truck tires are generally only rated to 70. Lots of “road gators” (blown tires, peeled recaps) out there. And lots of 18-wheeler personal injury lawyers.
I instinctively look down in every car of ours except for the ’81 Camaro. This is because every other car has a touchscreen with a backup camera…except the Cobalt.
It has the touchscreen, but no backup camera. But because the screen exists, my brain instinctively goes “backup camera!” when I have none, at which point I revert to my mirrors.
Fun fact, the Cobalt is the only vehicle in my fleet that doesn’t have a digital speedo, as well, so I also have to remember how to use an analog speedometer whenever I drive that.
Interesting. My ’17 Accord has an analog speedometer and no digital one. But according to GPS, it is spot on. And I know how to read it. Lol. Going over mountains, it even downshifts to keep speeds going downhill to the set speed. It’s pretty impressive.
The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters win the NHTSA championship EVERY YEAR.
2017 Veloster. Love it, but have you seen the rear window? Probably not, since it’s so small. I do make an effort to scan my surroundings with my mirrors and limited windows, but the backup camera is where my focus remains after; it actually lets me see things.
I also really appreciate the mirror-in-a-mirror on the driver’s side. I believe it’s for the blind spot, but it also just adds another degree of visibility in general.
I’ve seen the little light-up warning beeper thing take up the same spot on newer cars, and I think that’s a downgrade for visibility, focus, safety, reliability, etc. all around.
The way people talk about BSW systems, I assume this is considered a “dangerous old man saying the 1960s cars were safer because they didn’t crumple” opinion and not a “touchscreens bad” opinion.
Side rear view mirror.
I check behind me to make sure the path is clear before starting and glance at the cam once in a while to make sure nothing suddenly appears, but in general I watch my side rear-view mirror and put my side where it needs to be under the theory that the rest of the car will take care of itself if the driver side is on track.
Truthfully I’m working on Camera and Mirror both.
I had nearly 40 years of driving experience by the time the rear-view camera requirement came along, so I struggle to even remember to look at the camera display, but when I do, I have trouble figuring out where to look. A forward-view image appears on one screen in my car while the reverse view is on another below it. I often spend a few precious split seconds scanning the dash and my mirrors for the view I need. The bigger problem is that my older eyes can’t focus on the screens. Screen images are blurry and indistinct, while the world as seen in my mirrors is a riot of color, depth, detail, and awe-inspiring beauty—I only frequent the finer parking facilities. If only I could plug the damn cameras directly into my visual cortex…
Only one of the vehicles I drive on a regular basis has a backup camera. Even in that Jeep, since my driveway connects to a rather busy residential street I’m in the habit of turning and looking instead of relying on my mirrors.
I just got a recall notice for my 2016 C-Max for the backup camera. I was surprised that was something that rose to level of a recall, and expected I’d just have to replace it myself (in the past few months, every so often I’ll get a blue screen rather than the camera view when in reverse)
Microsoft-based?
Haha! Honestly it reminded me more of the blank blue screen when a VCR didn’t have a cassette in it yet…
I have a friend that once backed into her mothers car. It was parked not directly behind her but off to the right side a little. Just out of camera range. She actually said to me that she would like to sue toyota because she never saw the car on her camera. I asked her if she saw when she looked around or out the window. Awkward silence. It’s amazing to me that people just back up without ever LOOKING AROUND THEM.
Yeah. I still use my mirrors too. I live in a condo complex, and my garage exits to an alley. And garbage day is a pain with bins out on the alley. But the rear-view camera does let me know how far I can back out before I hit the neighbor’s bin.
The reason for the backup cameras isn’t to help you park, it is to reduce your chances of backing into your, or your neighbors kid. For this it has been very successful: https://www.kidsandcars.org/news/post/backup-camera-mandate-linked-to-sharp-drop-in-child-backover-deaths-study-finds#:~:text=Both%20sets%20showed%20nearly%20identical,fatal%20cases%20decreased%20by%2078%25
It’s right there in the recall notice.
I’m guessing “parking assist software” being involved is a consequence of connecting many software systems doing complex things to safety systems that are, in theory, pretty simple. Everything goes in the tablet!
I worked for a TV station that had to put extra mirrors on their microwave vans because some box van ran over a kid. It wasn’t a live truck that did that.
I’m generally not anti-regulatory. Something bad happened and a solution to try to ensure it didn’t happen again was realized. It doesn’t bother me. And I don’t understand people who get so annoyed. Until it’s their kid, or grandchild who gets injured, or worse. And, well OSHA. And well, NHTSA. They don’t bother me. And the FAA.
A nuanced 4th option that I use all the time is the top-down camera in my Audi. It really helps to get the car centered in a parking spot and also prevent curb rash on the wheels.
My answer is not listed: I START by looking at the camera monitor for about a second, then switch to the mirror, then each side mirror, then BACK to the camera. It’s a whole process. I start rolling back after the first two and keep looping through all the options for as long as I need to before getting into a forward gear.
No, I’m not overly cautious. No, I don’t have (diagnosed) OCD.
Thank you, I didn’t want to type this out. Me too.
Yeah, it’s a lot to type and a lot to do while driving. But I tell myself it’s the only responsible way to handle several thousand pounds of metal that can kill many people very quickly if you aren’t paying sufficient attention. It should be hard work.
Put camera in rearview mirror, problem solved. My only car with a backup camera has this, it works fine for seeing below/behind which turning head back does not see.
It really depends. I do the turn and look, the mirror, and the screen, and it all depends on context. Backing down a driveway is different from backing into my garage, which is different from backing out of a parking spot. I really like my panoramic parking cameras, but they have a different use case than my mirrors and windows.
In a full parking lot, I probably mostly use the camera, simply because the rear cross-traffic alerts mean that the cameras give me a lot more information than my mirror or turning to look. If I’m backing into my garage, I use my mirrors quite a bit, because I don’t need the wider information as much. If I’m backing down a long driveway, it’s mostly the turn and look, combined with some mirror use.
Agreed – typically, I only back up when I get out of my home spot, and I back in at work. Each one is different, and in some cases, I only need to use the side mirrors.
The reclaim is about the panoramic view, not just regular reverse. My cars have pano view because it’s really useful, so I use that over the rear view mirror.
With the parking sensors and rear cross traffic alert (longer range sensors on the sides of the large somewhat bumber resembling plastic element), looking at the screen is usually the best option. The wide angle lens helps to see what is coming up. Except when parallel parking, then the mirrors are easier for judging the distances. The depth vision is lost with the camera, really difficult without the parking sensors. Although there is a trick ”view from above” mode for backing close to the trailer hook.
So in practice, why not both? Situation dependant combination of all technologies. Except the parallel parking assist (or whatever it is called), way too complicated, I don’t get it.
Of course there are situations when the camera is dirty and there is no time to wait for the camera washer nozzle to do its magic, or it is frozen up. Then, no camera. But similarly the side mirrors and the rear window (wagon) may be wet/dirty/icy, slushy…