Well, while it’s true that I don’t live in such a neighborhood, I’m still able to note what is happening around me and pay attention. I.e. if I had neighbors with kids 2 houses away that played on their battery operated toys at battery operated (NOT “light”) speed, then it would be foremost in my mind while operating a motor vehicle.
Maybe it’s just old people with slow brains that can’t keep up anymore.
Maybe it’s younger people in two income households that are super busy running around to pay too much attention to such things? Who tends to leave children in hot cars, forgetting to drop them off at child care and rushing into work with them in the back seat?
The potential to run over kids or items left behind the car is an equal opportunity accident. It’s not confined to one age group or even who is diligent and who isn’t because at some point, we can all become distracted and that seems to come at the most inopportune times…
No matter what type of neighborhood someone lives in, backing up over a small child or a small animal can happen anywhere if one doesn’t have a backup camera. Last summer, when I returned to my vehicle after a hike, there was nobody near my vehicle.
A minute or so later, when I put the transmission into reverse, lo and behold, there was a toddler standing behind it–as shown by the video screen, but not visible in the rearview mirror. Apparently, the kid scampered away briefly from his parents, and if not for that backup camera, I would likely have run over that kid.
That does not even deserve a decent rebuttal.
I can only assume you don’t live in a densely populated area. Cameras have saved me a couple times from hitting someone behind me. One was a small child that ran ahead of their parents in a parking lot and stopped right behind my SUV. The other was a woman who stopped to tie her shoe right behind my SUV. Backup cameras are also great backing out of a tight parking space so you don’t hit other vehicles. Also great for parallel parking on a city street. Could I drive a vehicle without one. Sure, I could. I did for 40+ years prior. But it’s a lot easier to drive with one. My son’s car has lane detection that shows a light lit up on his side mirror whenever there’s a car in the lane next to him. Nice feature.
That’s one of the big advantages - a better view of the traffic in the parking lot or street that I have from the driver’s seat, whether I park nose in or ‘pull through’ and park nose out.
I have posted this before. The blind spot system worked when some clown passed a line of traffic on the right hand shoulder while I was starting to merge to the right exit ramp . I am convinced that I would have hit him if not for that warning .
My car has a very wide angle rear view and that means the view to the sides is small. To make up for it the edge of the camera view glows red if it detects something on that side in the rear view.
Yup!
While it’s true that we all drove for many years without safety features such as BSW, it is really nice to have, and it definitely can reduce the incidence of collisions.
I also love the back up camera for when I am backing into the garage, I can back in with out it even though the driveway is Sharply curved driveway, but it is very hard to back in just enough to close the garage door without getting out and looking, and being able to open the tailgate AND the outside refrigerator door to put drinks away from the store… I love the (distance?) lines cause I have figured out how close I need to be for all the planets to line up…
I have said this before, I am VERY proud of my daughters driving skills, I worked with her hard as well as she went to the Ford Driving Skills for Life hands-on training clinic thingy, and she can out drive most guys her age and older (non track racers), but due to having two 11" rods fusing her back straight it is hard for her to turn around and look out the back, so she relies on her mirrors…
And due to my back and neck, I can no longer turn around to back up like I once could, so nothing to do with how fast or slow ones mind works, there are also other real world things that make back up cameras wonderful…
Yup!
Even if someone doesn’t have severe neurological issues, everyone loses some mobility as they age, and turning one’s head isn’t as easy as it once was when they were younger.
You can really mitigate that if you take care of yourself. Proper exercise and diet are the KEY. I’m still very mobile. I exercise DAILY. Weightlift and aerobic. Plus I’m very active doing things, like skiing in the winter and golf (walking) during the summer. I also do 1-2 mountain climbs each year. Now that I’m retired, I might have the time to become a 4,000 ft club member.
I agree daily exercises and diet are cery omportant
But if you were born with scoliosis or something else, diet and exercise won’t solve ALL the problems
I do eat properly and exercise
But there are certain problems those 2 things just won’t overcome, at least not completely
Nerve damage, arthritis, etc. are also a reality for many blue-collar guys
Yes, cause everyone with Parkinson’s disease, ALS, MS, PSP, and the many hundreds more with Neurodegenerative diseases all asked for whatever they have… lol
And just to keep it vehicle related, here is part 2 to backing in the garage… lol
Not a lot of room to spare…
Can’t get no beer out if the fridge is blocked!
Of course medical conditions are a contributing factor. But unfortunately - the VAST MAJORITY of out of shape people in this country is self-inflected. They don’t eat right, or exercise then complain and blame the food industry or McDonalds for making them fat. I can’t tell you how many people I know who are morbidly obese that say is a gland or hormone problem. - YEA RIGHT. They don’t want to take responsibility for their problem. It’s always someone else’s fault.
You kind of described the mom of someone I know
She’s NEVER eaten right, exercised or anything
And now she’s got 2 artificial knees, is overweight, STILL eats junk all day, every day, no exercise, doesnt follow doctor’s orders, etc.
Ohhh how I wish, it has been years since I have had an alcohol drink, nor anything to smoke (you pick, although haven’t smoked a cig since 12/25/1999 lol) in years either, much less any recreational drugs due to the strong meds I am on, and because of the pain meds, I take random drug test about every 3 months…
And to keep it vehicle related, I still drive everywhere I go…
I have a friend who’s a Cardiologist. When he started his practice (40 years ago) - he had a total of 2-3 obese people in his practice. Most were elderly (over 70) smokers. Now - well over 90% of his practice are people under 50 who are morbidly obese.
I’ve been following this thread the last dozen or so posts, and i see a lot of participants are fans of forms of blind-spot assist.
I have a question to ask of those people:
When seated comfortably in the drivers seat of your vehicle, ready to drive, please describe everything you see in your side-view mirrors.
