Posted on 04/01/2014 7:14:25 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I thought it was a toy until I bought a car with one. Now I hate driving a car without one. I find myself backing up while staring a dashboard with no video. Doesn’t work too well.
LOL! Until I own one, I guess I should just STHU. And I will.
I’m not sure where you get the idea this has to add over $1K to the price of the vehicle. You can get a complete system for under $60.
Just from what I know about government forced add-ons. From all the feedback I’m getting, I guess I’m wrong ...
Not that I have ever been wrong before ... LOL!
One of my strongest reasons for being on FR is the education I receive, all for free!
Find out which senators, cabinet members or Obama cronies have a wife, husband, sister or brother involved in the manufaturing, importation and distribution of the cameras.
Thanks
Right on, driftdriver.
The backup cam on my 2008 Pathfinder has so far saved: 2 puppies; 3 pedestrians on their cell phones; and an older Fairlane that had been parked in my blind spot.
But like you, I’d rather see them marketed than mandated.
You can already stream HD video from your smartphone to your LCD-equipped stereo receiver unit in you car, the same one that displays videos from your cameras.
Also you can control your smartphone and stereo unit via Bluetooth and voice commands or from steering wheel buttons. Make calls, change the station, get nav maps, or GPS in Google Earth or Gaia GPS all with touch or voice commands.
Aftermarket retrofit buy-in price for all this stuff is about $100 from Walmart and it’s a name-brand label: Pioneer. Add Bluetooth cameras powered by your backup light wiring for about $60.
Look, cars are just going to have all this stuff anyway even if government didn’t make a law to mandate it. It’s cheap, works great, and you can even add it to an older car as easy as adding any old new stereo.
$160 to have all this if you have a smartphone already. Maybe $450 if you don’t have a smartphone. It’s just going to get cheaper.
Considering that I don’t own a smart phone of any kind (I have a basic cell phone) and at my age, I doubt I will ever own anything else. Your explanation and example sounds great, just not something that matches my lifestyle or age.
You are WAY overestimating the cost of a backup camera. They are standard equipment on $18k Honda civics. You can buy the entire setup on eBay for $54.99 shipped. Most cars have LCD screens for the audio/temp control, and adding the backup camera to display on that screen will cost them less that $50.
I just wait for the bump!
Hello...sidewalks? Whoever said that is right - by the time the camera picks up a pedestrian or a bicyclist right behind your vehicle, it's probably too late!
Plus, it's one more "electronic" to go wrong.
Plus, that's also why they make "spotting mirrors".
Plus, most newer vehicles (our '06 F150, for example) already have a "beeper" that goes off when you get within 10 feet of anything with your back bumper...it can actually be annoying, if there's a little shrub behind the parking space you're backing into!!
Of course, that's US...we don't drive cars we can't handle, and we use all due care, which is more considerable with the truck's sightlines/mirrors than with my petite '98 Explorer Sport.
We've never run over anything or anyone in any of our cars, with the exception of backing over a bicycle one time ("sans" a person...it was one of our bikes, that we forgot to load) and running over a Crockpot that I set down in the middle of the driveway to open the gate...LOL
SO, I guess the question really is, how much mandated "automating and idiot-proofing" of our vehicles should we have to accept, so incompetent and careless people are permitted to drive?
Or, "kinder, gentler"...if it's a great "option", and affordable, can it just be an "option" (for a small extra price)?!
Why manufacture vehicles where you can't see out the side and rear windows? Or conversely, why BUY a vehicle that you can't see out of? Is that the problem?
Do they have this in France and Germany? (the "Autobahn", you know - HA!)
I was thinking about getting one anyway, for my car. It seems like a very good idea.
There is one on my new car and as the priest I work for says “now I can see who to pick out to back up over” :). I agreed and added I can also see the expression on their face when I do it!
Yeah I don’t know how I ever parked without one. I have an Infiniti and the sight lines are fantastic and it has saved me in crowded parking lots. They are great.
But as you said the government shouldn’t be mandating them. But they have always mandated things on cars so this is nothing new. I won’t lose any sleep over this.
My 2006 Jag S Type has that. Not a camera but a beeper if something is close to the bumper. You definitely notice it cause it is obnoxious. lol
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