Posted on 05/02/2018 12:09:36 PM PDT by BBell
All newly manufactured vehicles to be sold in the U.S. are required as of Tuesday to have backup cameras equipped as a standard feature.
Advocates for the rule, which was mandated by the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency in 2014, hope today’s milestone will lead to fewer instances of drivers backing into people due to a lack of visibility.
“This day is so important because we don’t have a choice” when it comes to children’s safety around cars, said Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars.org, an advocacy group that works to prevent accidents involving children and motor vehicles. “This measure will save countless lives, especially of children.”
Congress passed the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act in 2008. The bill, signed into law by then-President George W. Bush, ordered NHTSA to issue by 2011 a standard for improving drivers’ ability to detect pedestrians behind their vehicles.
NHTSA’s proposed standard was stalled for several years in the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, according to a Reuters. It wasn’t until March 2014, when a coalition of advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation (of which NHTSA is a part), that a rule was issued, with a May 1, 2018, deadline for full implementation.
Today was 16 years in the making for Dr. Greg Gulbransen, who in 2002 accidentally backed over and killed his 2-year-old son Cameron, the namesake of the bill Congress enacted.
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27 years in the fire Service, I know how to use the side view mirrors. Check the back too before you go!
Good luck with that. We can’t get people to pay attention to what’s in front of them, let alone behind.
That’s why I have these. I don’t depend on them fully, tho.
https://www.google.com/search?query=blind+spot+mirrors&client=ms-android-hms-tmobile-us&hl=en
Would completely miss a tot running behind at last minute until too late.
My Chrysler 300 has cameras behind, in front and maybe rear mirrors but send off beeping signals continuously on trucks, suvs, etc. parked beside me but failed when car on my passenger side, t-boned me going 5mph!
This touches on one reason I moved to KY. I have four cars. Two of them have check engine lights that come on, then shut off, then come on a few weeks later, etc. We don’t have emissions tests here so it’s irrelevant.
This is why I hate unnecessary laws. It’s just more stuff to deal with and another way to run afoul of the government.
Now that would make me car sick. Seriously.
It can cause accidents also.
I hate the things. The field of vision is limited so people are not turning around to see where they are going and drift into potential trouble spots.
They should give you the option of holding your cell phone out the sunroof and using it for a camera, if you promise to do it every time you back up.
Yet they won’t mandate automatic headlights. Barely a day goes by where I see a car driving long after dark with nothing but daytime running lights in the front - or no lights on at all.
My company car has one but none of our personal cars do. It’s nice kind of but to be honest, I actually know how to drive and use my mirror. About the only time I look at it is when I’m backing up and want to get really close to the bumper of the car behind me.
I wish someone would be allowed to build a car without all the “safety” frills and buyers could sign away their right to sue for frivolous reasons. I’ll bet they could get the price under $10K and sales would skyrocket.
It is clear that we are not suddenly going to get “self driving” cars. It will be incrementalized. A little here, a little there, and the next thing you know you’re talking to the people in the back seat, facing them from the driver’s seat.
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Already here—called passenger mirrors.
Where in the Constitution is the federal government empowered to mandate back-up cameras on motor vehicles?
When I bought my 2012 Toyota Tacoma I told the salesman that I did not want the back up camera. He said it came with the package. I am so glad I have one now. It is the best invention for trucks/vans since the intermittent wipers. I use my camera all the time. It is great for backing into a parking space. It is especially useful for hooking up a trailer. I can line up the ball directly under the trailer hitch without getting out of the truck by myself.
Ping.
You are wrong. It is a big deal.
Why should some nincompoop sitting in Washington DC have a say, at the point of a gun, over what we decide to have as a accessories on our vehicles?
Some people fail to keep track of their kids and pets and fail to check behind the car before backing up. So all of us have to pay for this feature. I don’t think the government should mandate “nice to have” features like this.
My job is changing soon to become more of a customer trainer in the building materials sector. I’ll be pulling a trailer often with all my stuff. Backing in without help is a challenge so the new truck with a camera will be quite helpful.
Mandatory though? Not in my less than humble opinion
Each new car I get has less visibilty that the last. I could see everything in my late 80s Mazda. I just rented a new Kia and felt blind. I needed to ask the sonar operator for a course to steer to in that mini-submarine. But the backup camera with the steering aim points was way cool.
My adult daughter totaled her 2017 Camry XSE a few weeks ago. Much of the repair cost was associated with the damage the airbags did to the interior. Every air bag in the car deployed. The dash and interior was shredded.
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