", including those that automakers already offer, would save between 59 and 69 deaths a year, NHTSA said. "
I doubt having a camera will make any difference in the number of kids run over by backing vehicles…The people who are responsible for these “accidents” would not be helped by gadgets like this…Just another reason for your car to fail a safety inspection if/when the camera quits working…
+1 @Caddyman
people will be busy checking their phones instead of the backup camera screens…
I suppose the backup camera is a good idea, but we have so many stories of distracted drivers, is now watching a video screen less distracting? Oh it was not on the video screen, that’s why with the steering wheel turned I hit whatever.
@keith: Anyone who wants a camera can currently get it at McParts for $100 or less, so it stands: it’s an attempt to ram cameras down the throat of those who don’t want them. It will drive car prices up, car ownership prices up…at a time when new car ownership is already a fading dream for the working class.
And I stand by my statements. A sufficiently skilled driver can back up a “double” w/o a camera…any competent one can do so in a passenger vehicle. (Part of competence is knowing when to back into or pull through a parking space to make the departure safer, FYI.)
My new highlander has one. It’s real handy when backing into a parking space when it’s NOT RAINING OR SNOWING. When it is raining or snowing…the lens has water droplets or snow covering it…so it becomes useless.
@MikeInNH I have to assume it has a wide angle of view, does it help in parallel parking?
I mentioned it before but, I would sure like a backup camera that I could turn on and record and save images of the license numbers of tailgaters. Back up camers are really good developements. They would help avoid a lot of parking lot dings in addition to saving lives. Can’t tell you how many people over my life time I have seen, back up by ear…“bang”, “guess I went too far” !
Relying on only the backup camera isn’t the best idea, you still should check the mirrors as well. It does help in situations where you can’t totally see what’s behind you while backing up. Had a close call on the '07 CRV when we backed into a rock used as landscaping in a parking lot barrier (backed into it without seeing it was there) whatever panel in the back might have been damaged popped back into place but it was a warning to be more careful in the future. It’s a good idea but on many cars with the exception of Honda’s you have to buy a higher trim level to get the camera.
I have to agree with MikeinNH: These are neat but nearly useless when the weather is anything but perfect. And people are so lazy they won’t even clear off their entire window when it snows–are they going to remember to clear snow from the backup camera? People don’t read their manuals–will they even understand where the camera is located? I guess the manufacturers could add a small heater to keep the lens clear, but they likely will only do what is mandated except in high-end cars.
More useful IMHO is the backup “radar” that indicates how close you’re approaching an object or alerts you to an object in your path. But these again are only going to be usable if the emitters/detectors are kept clear of snow and other debris.
How long I wonder before “parallel parking assist” will be mandated on cars?
If show covering the camera lens is an issue, why don’t you clear the snow off the lens? Don’t you clear the snow from your windows before you drive? Why wouldn’t you do the same for the camera lens?
@Whitey: Why don’t you do a walkaround while you’re at it? Point being, cameras are mandated because people DON’T do a walkaround. To expect that they will both walk around the car AND wipe down a camera is naive.
@meanjoe75fan
100% agree. My wife rolled her eyes a little at first when first married and I got out, walked around the car/truck, then paced off the distance I had to go to park it perfectly. I then used that distance as a reference as I lined up a body part with the ground. It’s about safety, efficiency and a little exercise. But, I still get back up cameras too. Technology has advanced far enough to make them a cheap add on at the factory and another gizmo that needs maintenance. They love it and like AC and power mirrors, we all/ most will learn to love it too.
But “mean” …where safety of kids are concerned, I see no reason why we can’t do both.
I have to assume it has a wide angle of view, does it help in parallel parking?
I haven’t paralleled parked in probably 3 years. I don’t drive anywhere you can parallel park. But it probably will help. One nice thing is it has lines over the image in Blue and Red. Blue means safe…and if an object is in the Red zone you’re hitting it or it’s going under the truck.
It is nice. Not sure I would mandate it. This is the first vehicle I ever owned with it…and I never missed not having it.
The last time I parked in our club parking lot, I pulled in behind a truck and left, what I thought was two feet of room. When I got out, an extra long hitch insert was sticking out from the truck and just inches from my grill…luckily, I have a cow catcher on the front of the SUV. Back up cameras still don’t replace good judgement and actually getting out and eyeballing the situation.
The camera on my van is awesome. I have to admit I hated the idea at first but after having one, I wouldn’t consider NOT having one. It comes in handy for all sorts of reasons.
Claiming walkarounds are sufficient is being somewhat ignorant of all conditions. That works for stationary objects that might be laying on the ground but it doesn’t help for people that are mobile and unpredictable. Kids are my biggest concern and not just my own. The ones I can’t control when I’m visiting someone are my worst fear. Even your own kids become autonomous at some point and because they are kids, even though you have drilled into them the need to be careful around cars, they’re kids and make bad choices sometimes.
However, adults can be just as bad. Backing out of parking spots at the mall or box store, people will continue to walk behind you even as you’re backing out. Without the camera, they would be unseen. Same for cars attempting back out simulatneously from opposing spots. A number of times I have avoided hitting/getting hit by someone that just started backing out across from me.
meanjoe, how many skilled drivers back a double where kids are playing? Not the same environment. A walk around may be ok for a landscape feature, but landscape features don’t generally move, at least not very fast (except on occasion in California), but kids do, especially kids with puppies.
The camera is not a distraction during backup, and the ones that come built in to the vehicles only come on when in reverse. It is without a doubt the best real time view you can get when backing up. No mirrors or walk around can match it.
Most car audio systems today use a multi function display. I don’t know if the aftermarket cameras can plug into these displays or not or if they can be integrated into the reverse switch on the transmission. It would be nice if the manufacturers had put the necessary ports into the current systems so that an aftermarket or dealer option camera could be installed in all new cars right now. Maybe they do but we don’t know that yet.
Kinda like when back in the late 50’s, car manufacturers started putting seal belt anchors in all vehicles before the seat belts were mandated.
If you’re backing at a slower-than-walking pace, you only pose a mortal risk to children old enough to be ambulatory, but young enough not to know to get out of the way of a moving vehicle. Being generous, a 4 year window (1-5)?////There might be a “perfect storm” scenario where a cautious and diligent driver might have no means of avoiding a crash (short of a camera), but most cases seem to be a breakdown of best-practices diligence on the part of the driver (including the “best practice” of avoiding backing departures wherever possible, a “head count” of known pedestrians in vicinity, etc.)
I agree Keith. Cameras are a good adjunct especially the way cars are designed to impeded rather then help rearward vision. There is nothing wrong with doing both…that includes getting off our fat asteroids and looking, then using the camera, IMO, it’s not either/ or, like traction/stability control does not replace getting new tires when you should.
@meanjoe75fan, who doesn’t do a walkaround when the car is covered with snow? Don’t you have to do a walkaround in order to clear the snow from your windows?
When it comes to things like ABS and stability control, I can understand the point of view that they make us lazy, but in the case of backup cameras it’s not the same thing. Rear view cameras don’t do the looking for you, they just allow you to see more of what you normally look at when you turn and look over your shoulder. No matter how the rear camera is mounted or what kind of monitor it is connected to, it will never replace something you do for yourself. At best, it can only change how you check behind your car to make sure the path is clear as your car moves.