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.
“We must go forward, not backward. Upward, not downward. And always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.”
You’d better have some miniature American flags, buddy.
I street-parked my old square body suburban in SF for years without hitting anyone behind me. Suck it up kids, learn to drive.
I bet that old Suburban has better outward visibility than even a small, modern hatchback has today. Safety standards that have caused daylight/window openings to decrease in size and remove visibility is what this is all about and what caused the need for cameras in the first place.
Have you…actually seen a square body suburban? Do you know what they look like in the back? It’s a big slab of zero visibility. Anything behind you, unless it’s a good size truck, is virtually invisible except for what you can glimpse out the side mirrors.
Also, what safety standards are you talking about that have reduced rearward visibility?
Man, backing up with the mirror seems like the worst option. People really do that? I don’t think that’s what it’s for! I prefer to turn around if I can see pretty well out the back, but nothing beats the camera for showing exactly how close you are to whatever’s back there and what might be on the ground out of sight. I can also imagine losing the flexibility it takes to really get a good look backwards someday.
No option for the side mirrors? I do like a rear view camera for checking to see if there is anything behind me I can’t see in the rear view mirror, but find the side mirrors the best for actually guiding the vehicle in reverse.
This is where the Polestar 4’s lack of a rear window gets to me. We have one car with a reverse camera, and two without it, and I’m not the primary driver of the one with it, so I just can’t wrap my head around the idea of being totally reliant on technology and unable to fully use my own senses.
I taught my then-boyfriend, now-husband how to drive many years ago, and the most important lesson I taught him was that you drive in 360 degrees—you should strive to be aware of what’s happening on every side of you to as great an extent as possible, and that awareness should be kinetic, happening within your body. Filtering this awareness through screens creates an artificial layer of remove, which is the last thing you need when piloting thousands of pounds at high speed in close quarters.
When I have the camera, do I use it? Of course, because it makes sense for safety to use every tool at your disposal, but the camera definitely comes third after using the mirrors and turning my body to look.
my daily doesn’t have a camera, so I use a combo of turning around and the mirror, when I am in a newer car with one, I usually forget at first, but then kinda use it last minute, unless the car I am in is, like a van or something where turning or using the mirrors is pretty obstructed.
I don’t hate cameras, they are useful and if my car had them I would likely use it more than the mirrors, but I don’t like when a camera display completely replaces a mirror though?
I absolutely check out the back window and the mirrors before backing up, but especially in my driveway at home, I’m using the camera, just for the sake of getting my side steps lined up with the bottom of the screen to consistently be parked in the same spot, along with using my side view mirror to keep close to the edge of the driveway, all so I have room to get garbage bins and bikes and stuff past the car.
I recently had an experience of going from rear view camera to mirrors and back again. My ’16 FR-S has a very simple, no-overlay camera feed from the stereo, but when it went in for service, I was borrowing my brother’s 2002 Oldsmobile Bravada. Each time I switched, it took a couple days for me to get used to having or not having a reverse camera. I had to back out of my driveway using the side view mirrors to not hit the house with my brother’s car, like I used to with my old car, and then turn around to look for traffic. After getting back in the FR-S, it took a couple days to break those habits and back out of the driveway with the camera. I think you just get used to whatever you do, so long as it’s safe, and you don’t get complacent with whatever tools you use.
I use the camera, and look over my shoulder for the side to side traffic.
You can be a “purist, principles, whatever you want” kind of person, but if you’re ignoring the screen simply because you learned without one, you’re literally missing the point…
This! I have aversions to how much tech is being shoved into cars but cameras are very much a solution to a problem that exists.
Personally, I only have one car now that doesn’t have back up camera. It doesn’t get driven very much but the other older vehicles in my fleet have had them added.
Well I don’t own a vehicle with a camera. But in my truck I just turn around and look. In my Focus ST it’s actually a bit hard to turn around because of the seat bolstering, but I use a combination of side mirrors angled down, rear-view mirror, and lots of partially-twisted head turning.
I have a process because my camera’s show different things.
My Kia Forte GT has decent rear visibility for a modern car, which isn’t saying much, but I use the mirror and the camera pretty much equally. The Miata neither needs or has a camera.
I do a combination of rear camera, rear mirror (that is not a mirror, its a HD Camera too) and my neck moving around. The car also has 360 view so it provides a nice view around me and the car seats will vibrate if the car detects an obstacle close by.
New cars need 360 cameras, the visibility is awful these days. My Beetle doesnt even has a right side mirror, but the car has excellent visibility.
I do all three. I check the mirrors and camera, then swing the arm and look back to reverse.
The only time I rely on the camera for anything more than a glance is when I parallel park.
If I had a car-height car, the rear window would be fine. The only reason we need cameras is that an entire kindergarten class could be standing in the space you can’t see on most SUVs.
I’ll own up to mostly using the rear view camera screen by default in my CX-30. That said, if you’ve ever driven a CX-30 or current gen Mazda 3 hatchback, the rear visibility SUCKS, but I do use the rear and especially side mirrors plenty, partly because the rear visibility so awful. Back when I had my 03 GX470 it had no backup camera, but the greenhouse was so gigantic I honestly didn’t even need it.
My Model Y has terrible rear visibility and a high quality rear camera. Down to the screen for me at first when reversing. Then to the mirrors. It’s safer to reverse into spots and drive out forward.
Same with my Model 3. After I almost ran someone over because I was using my mirrors and didn’t see them in the c-pillar blind spots, I started using the camera after that day.
I can’t accurately vote in the poll, because it depends on the car. In the Bolt I do rely almost 100% on the camera for reversing, but every other car, including the Prius that also has a backup camera, I primarily use the mirror.
The refreshed Bolt also has the highest quality pack view I have ever seen. I don’t need to see the individual mineral grains in the rocks within the asphalt, but I sure can.
I have yet to even drive a car that came with a rear view camera although I did have one installed on my Vehicross 2 decades ago and ended up never using it because the 3 inch monitor base would not stay glued to the dash
That’s me, other than the “looking all cavalier and cool” part.
Yeah, but what’s the percentage of your fleet that actually HAS mirrors?
They all have at least one mirror; I just find that looking over my shoulder provides a better view. The only vehicle in which it’s more or less impossible for me to turn and look over my shoulder is my HMV Freeway but it doesn’t have reverse anyway, so I need to get out and push it when backing out of a spot. Problem solved!
Can’t wait for the Member’s Rides, professor!
I… need to get back to working on that.
I’ve never owned a vehicle new enough to have a camera.
Rear view cameras are for proctologists. I just use the mirrors.
I have two cars, one with a camera and one without. Having driven for decades without, I tend to look in the mirrors and over my shoulders first before backing up. In fact, it’s rare for me to remember to use the camera at all.
I do it all, babyyyy. It’s situational. Cargo van without a rearview? Side mirrors then camera screen. My 2007 Tacoma? Plenty of glass to see out of, so usually a head turn after mirror check. My father’s new-ish F-150? Yeah the camera was much more useful than the rear window.
As one who switches between an analog car and a highly optioned car within the household, it IS hard to adapt. We want to drive our cars instinctively, reacting without thinking. Is it unsafe to drive the car with the defective camera? NO. Is the driver out of practice for backing up without a camera? Probably.
That said, we are making our children learn to drive on the analog car. Learn the basics, then they can learn the technology.