@oblivion
I also emember that post, and that person did change their mind . . . because a few “test brake applications” which he performed himself showed that his drum brakes faded to the point that he couldn’t safely stop anymore, within a reasonable distance
Im not “against cameras”; I’m “against mandated cameras.”////The fact that there is a kid-swallowing blind spot behind most vehicles is acutely aware to me. I drive a pickup, frequently with a full bed, so I make a practice of minimizing backing…or at least back in/pull out (“head in only” signs be damned.)////Also when dropping off children, I make a point of an “all acounted” head count before I even turn the key.
Forgive me but I’ll have to read the rest of the comments. I have not had a big problem with snow on the camera. True there will be some haziness when its raining but I usually try to clean the thing off. Yes it appears to be a wide area camera and really also helps in a parking lot trying to see around the
SUVs you’re parked next to. I really don’t think they cost hardly $100 additional.
Mandates, mandates,too many mandates already-believe me if I could get by without a car or truck I would,one of these days my chance at ownership of a new vehicle will be mandated out of existence.
You cant make a car idiot proof,because there are so many people who take for granted the privelege of driving,the other day one of my Neighbors young sons,got seriously injured on a bad stretch of road He has been driving for years(and it was in a car-not the jacked up Jeep He usually drives(we are only human,maybe uncle sam knows best)-Kevin
@Bing
If I thought a dealer installed backup camera could be had for even two hundred dollars, I would be all over it. At this time, I have none because though it’s one option I would like to have, it seems too linked to higher priced models I am not willing to buy on cars I only buy once every ten plus years.
@Kevin
I hear you. But, I for one am not willing to go back to non stainless steel exhaust systems, cars without cats, no airbags, abs, traction control etc. From a practical standpoint, I was tired of paying for exhaust systems EVERY YEAR, breathing the exhaust fumes as they were while driving in cities, not being able to maintain control while braking and actually not havering decent traction in snow with all four whelks in 4 wd and two in 2wd actually working for me. A thing like the added expense mandates along with decent tires has resulted in much safer and less expensive to maintain vehicles where I choose to live.
My cars have been no more expensive to buy adjusted for inflation, and they have all been demonstratively better safer and more practical…other then rearward vision. I don’t know which is better, driving at 70 and getting 15 mpg at 2.00 per gallon or getting 30 mpg at 4.00 per gallon. But, the cars sure are quieter and safer doing it and as a percent of my adjusted income, not much more expensive.
Can running over a kid happen? - sure it can! Is it happening so frequently that we need the government to mandate a backup camera? - I’m not convinced of that. Will a backup camera help?? Maybe! It could also be one of those devices that people start depending on and forget about common sense.
Mandating technology to make driving safer is not a problem so long as the technology doesn’t make the driver more complacent. Backup camera is such technology. I would prefer backup radar be mandated. I want my fellow motorist to see the obstacle before approaching and use the radar to
The cost to society? 15 million vehicles/yr X $100/vehicle = $1.5 billion/yr to save 70 lives/yr or $20 million per life saved…sounds reasonable.
I would prefer backup radar be mandated.
That would probably be better. The ones where the car will stop itself if it detects you’ll hit something while backing up. At least with this device if they forget about common sense…the vehicle will help them.
Until you get snow on the radar sensor and can’t move… 
I think the argument that this is going to cause atrophy of fundamental skills is a false one. Looking behind you is a fundamental skill, but it doesn’t matter if you do it looking over your shoulder or looking at a display screen. You’re still looking behind you.
And with modern cars and their insanely high trunks and much more limited rearward visibility than older models, the backup camera lets you see a lot more than you can just looking out the rear glass.
I suspect this will hasten the advent of smartphone-mirroring displays as well. Some people get the navigation option because it’s the only way to get a backup camera. Now that they’ll be a required addition, I suspect car manufacturers might stop spending all that money to individually develop bad navigation systems and just let us link our Android/iPhone to the screen and use the constantly-updated-for-free services our phones have.
Back up cam just allows you to see what you can’t normally. It’s pretty logical to me that you should not be driving a 4000 lb car in a direction that you’re just guessing what might be behind you because of what you assumed from getting into your car a few minutes earlier.
I think it’s pretty well acknowledged by most here how crappy out ward vision has become. If they had a formular that helped propose a mandate for the visual field cars should minimally have, I certainly wouldn’t discount it. Backup cams essentially do that. It does nothing more then give you another eye. It has nothing to do with, automatically pressing the accelerator or brake which radar may which is an atrophy inducing aid. People who can’t back up a car straight, still won’t be able too. But at least, regardless of how important some of us think not running over and into pedestrians is, it will IMHO, dramatically take a bite out of all backup collisions, especially in parking lots.
Being able to see while you are backing up was important enough for me to drill holes in my tractor bucket to mount a 2 inch receiver hitch, so you can drive with full vision, anything you would normally tow. It’s a no brainier and just waiting for the installation costs to be reasonable is the only hold up. We will take them for granted in years to come just like back up lights.
@MikeInNH, a backup camera doesn’t just help prevent running over children. It also reduces the odds of backing into other vehicles, stationary objects, and adults too. When considering the cost/benefit analysis of something like this, saving children’s lives is just one part of the calculation.
@chunkyazian, would you please explain how the presence of a backup camera would make a driver more complacent? You say that is the case, but it would be nice if you explained your logic or offered some evidence to explain why you believe that to be the case.
@Whitey
Taking to the other extreme, maybe they are implying that putting blackout shades on all the windows would make drivers more alert.
@dagosa I’m not going to swear on the costs but Menards had the wireless advertised for somewhere around $100 as an add on. On our Acura it came with the technology package which was essentially the navigation system. I think the cameras themselves are cheap in the $30-40 range, but the more expensive part may be the screen to view it on. I dunno, I don’t like mandates either but outside of bubble mirrors on the back, with doday’s designs, it seems reasonable.
What Id worry about is that motorists would not look at their mirrors as a matter of course. Then, confronted with a car without a camera, they’d go with their learned behavior of staring straight ahead, and Bam!////It’s called “contamination of knowledge”–if two differing vehicles require opposite or differing mechanical actions to operate correctly, that in an of itself is a safety liability for drivers who occasionally drive both vehicles. (An example is how drivers shouldn’t left-foot brake an AT car if they also drive a MT requiring right-foot braking.)
Okay, so for the small percentage of drivers who are only capable of driving one particular model of car, they should stick to one car, because a backup camera isn’t going to be the only difference.
I just hope no one comes up with the idea of putting those irritating back up alarms on cars. You know like the bulldozers and UPS trucks that go beep beep beep every time they go into reverse.
@Bing, will look into it !
@meanjoe75fan
You opened the left foot debate. But, you can now say you know someone who prefers the left foot, used it for thirty years on one auto, and without batting and eye, I drove a manual as well as a manual tractor for twenty of those years as well. As a matter of fact, not using your left foot for braking if all you use is an auto, can lead to extreme left foot avascular necrosis. Seriously…not.