Backup cameras to become mandatory in U.S.

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In less than two years, federal regulators in the United States will require rearview cameras for all new passenger cars and trucks to aid visibility when backing up.
The plan, which is expected to be passed on to Congress later this week, comes in response to a NHTSA proposal from late 2010. That detailed proposal stems from 2008′s Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act, which was named after a two-year-old child who was killed when his father backed over him while at the wheel of the family’s SUV. The Gulbransen Act required NHTSA to set rear visibility regulations, but few specifics have been set. Vehicles like SUVs and crossovers with high seating positions offer the worst low object rear visibility, but the pursuit of improved aerodynamics has also raised the decklid and decreased rear window sizes in more conventional sedans and coupes.Backup cameras, which typically incorporate a small display in either the rearview mirror or a central navigation/infotainment screen, are available on a wide range of new cars, but NHTSA’s plan to make them mandatory marks the agency’s first major foray into pedestrian protection.NHTSA says that 228 people are killed every year when a driver accidentally backs over them in a driveway or a house. In the majority of cases involving a small child, a parent or close relative was at the wheel of the car. NHTSA regulators say that around 17,000 people are injured in backup accidents.Federal regulators are expected to make backup cameras mandatory equipment beginning in 2014.​

http://www.leftlanenews.com/backup-cameras-to-become-mandatory-in-u-s.html


STOP THE MADNESS! Are we really that sucky at driving?

 

[EMpower]

No madness. Several kids are killed each year when parents back-up their cars on them. You can't see a kid if he/she is below the car trunk height. The parents should not have the kid out in first place, when backing up, but i have read neighbors kid walk behind when backing-up. I think this is a good move.
Car prices will go up, and we will lose back-up camera as an option(with markup) when ordering a car.

 

[Betty Swollocks]

No madness. Several kids are killed each year when parents back-up their cars on them.

And you think having a camera is going to stop this? It'll just mean people rely on the camera now and don't have a proper look by turning their heads when reversing. Just another way for people to rely on technology rather than their own common sense.

Yes, I have a rear camera on my R8 and in no way does it replace looking properly by turning my head and using my mirrors to cover all angles.

 

[EMpower]

No I don't think this will stop. I think when it comes to backing up the more aids the better. I don't have rear view cam and I backup by my head looking back and my right hand behind passenger seat. I also have PDC sensors, but that does not stop me from looking back.

 

[Mr Robert]

And you think having a camera is going to stop this? It'll just mean people rely on the camera now and don't have a proper look by turning their heads when reversing. Just another way for people to rely on technology rather than their own common sense.

Yes, I have a rear camera on my R8 and in no way does it replace looking properly by turning my head and using my mirrors to cover all angles.

Exactly. Bad drivers will be bad drivers, regardless of what aids they will get. Just look at people driving without a seat belt, just because they have "those super safe airbags".

 

[EMpower]

On a positive note, IMO this will bring down cost of in-car LCD/LED screens, since they will be mass produced for every car, and therefore NAV prices should drop too. Since the screen is already there some manufacturers will add features to make use of the screen and make their car more attractive to those feature hungry buyers.

Years ago I remember watching TV commercials showing how many cup holders the car has, now they will show how many features on the in-car screen they have. Lol. Ford TV commercials these days are ridiculous....They show Ford owners say "Its like driving a computer". Goes to show how dumb they are getting.

 

[HighestOfHigh]

another way for people to rely on technology rather than their own common sense..

Sadly some people don't have common sense. If the technology saves lives, then it's welcomed.

 

[K-A]

I think it's a good thing. With designs getting stupidly dangerously non-functional, with tiny rear windows and raised asses so nobody can see behind them, I don't see how this can't become the case.

More interesting though, is that does it mean that in just two years, every car will have to have a screen placed into it? Seems crazy as we're extremely far off from that right now.

 

[deity]

Far off? Nearly every car that's not at the lowest end of the automotive spectrum (read: Yaris) has the option for a screen. And in cars like the Sienna, they get around that with a tiny monitor.

 

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. is delaying new rules that were expected this week mandating auto makers add rear-vision cameras as standard equipment on all vehicles by 2014, likely because the U.S. regulator wants more time to address industry concerns.

It marks a second delay for the long-anticipated rule, which dates back to 2007 and carries a statutory deadline of Feb. 28, 2011. NHTSA fielded public comment on the rule March 23, 2011. Final language was expected today, but the agency now says only that the new rule will be issued by the end of the year.

“Safety is the number one priority at the Department of Transportation – and we give especially high priority to the safety of children,” the DOT says in a statement. “While the Department has made progress toward a final rule to improve rearward visibility, it has decided that further study and data analysis – including of a wider range of vehicles and drivers – is important to ensure the most protective and efficient rule possible.”

Phase-in timing and technical concerns by the industry could be holding up the widely supported rule, which often can happen with major safety or fuel-economy changes. The new 5-star crash-rating system from NHTSA faced several delays before its landmark changes were implemented for model-year-’11.

General Motors, for example, told NHTSA it was concerned about mandated brightness levels for the rear-vision camera screens, as well as how the rule might prevent continued use of helpful overlays such as parking-assist guidelines.

GM also takes issue with the requirement that 100% of an auto maker’s fleet have the rear-vision cameras by Sept. 1, 2014, since the rule was delayed more than one year. GM thinks the intended 4-year phase-in of the technology should end Sept. 1, 2015.

Ford, BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz are among others to take issue with the original phase-in date.

The German auto makers see 2016 as a better deadline for 100% implementation. And all four auto makers say NHTSA overestimated the sophistication of current rear-vision cameras in determining how technically advanced the systems must be in 2014.

The U.S. on average sees 292 fatalities and 18,000 injuries annually from backover crashes, according to government statistics. About 100 of those 292 deaths involve children, lending strong argument to the rule.

NHTSA estimates rear-vision cameras would reduce annual backover fatalities by up to 112 and injuries by up to 8,300.

By and large the industry supports the rule, which would be a boon for suppliers of the technology, such as Delphi, Bosch, Continental and Panasonic. NHTSA estimates it will cost between $1.9 billion and $2.7 billion annually for auto makers to equip a 16.6-million new-vehicle fleet with the cameras.

NHTSA considered a number of other rear-vision aids, such as radar-based equipment, but eventually determined rear-vision cameras to be the most effective.

The rule comes out of 2007 legislation named after Cameron Gulbransen, a 2-year-old boy killed in 2002 when his father accidentally backed over him with the family SUV.

This year, the industry must feature electronic stability control on every new vehicle. At a cost of some $985 million in the first year, the rule is expected to save nearly 9,000 lives annually.

The ’12 model year also marks the first step in a 5-year march toward compliance with federal fuel-economy regulations of 35.5 mpg (6.6 L/100 km), which will cost the industry about $50 billion to achieve.

After ’16, auto makers will begin working toward a fuel-economy standard of 54.5 mpg (4.3 L/100 km) that by 2025, will cost the industry $150 billion.

The government expects both of the corporate average fuel economy rules to save Americans millions of dollars at the pump and to more than pay for the cost of expensive fuel-saving technologies over the course of a typical 5-year new-car loan.

NHTSA Delays Final Rear-Vision Camera Rule | Auto Makers content from WardsAuto

 

[hoffmeister_fan]

And you think having a camera is going to stop this? It'll just mean people rely on the camera now and don't have a proper look by turning their heads when reversing. Just another way for people to rely on technology rather than their own common sense.

Yes, I have a rear camera on my R8 and in no way does it replace looking properly by turning my head and using my mirrors to cover all angles.

You bring up a very good point. I think drivers who have been taught to look back and back up will still do that. But with standard rear cameras, I wonder how these new drivers, who will have these aids from the get-go, will employ proper backing-up techniques and how well they are reinforced. Alot of folks need to realize these are supplementary aids and ought to be used help them and not substitute turning their heads back and backing out.

 

[K-A]

You are far more intelligent and alert when you have none of these tools to help you. My backup Camera in my Benz has made me terrible at backing out without a camera with other cars. I'm not kidding.... it has literally decreased my abilities to perform that simple function with confidence, unless I have the Camera spoiling me.

 

[Human]

And you think having a camera is going to stop this? It'll just mean people rely on the camera now and don't have a proper look by turning their heads when reversing. Just another way for people to rely on technology rather than their own common sense.

Yes, I have a rear camera on my R8 and in no way does it replace looking properly by turning my head and using my mirrors to cover all angles.

Both me Beemers has the reverse cameras and the "Never solely rely on camera" warning displayed (if read as intended) made me actually use my rear view mirrors and neck muscles more. That is as you said Betty unfortunately not going to be every 'nut' behind the wheels natural way of using the tech. Nevertheless I hope the tech does become mandatory ONLY in conjunction with PDC (Park Distance Control)!

 

[chonkoa]

They better make it mandatory for people to clean the lense as well- O wait, the car manufacturers will have to provide automatic lense-cleaners as well.

 

[Yaz]

Oh, and you can see a kid walk behind your big SUV when you look back?

I'm for this, as it helps when parallel parking and I think a backup camera is way more useful than those stupid parking sensors.

 

[Deckhook]

No madness. Several kids are killed each year when parents back-up their cars on them. You can't see a kid if he/she is below the car trunk height. The parents should not have the kid out in first place, when backing up, but i have read neighbors kid walk behind when backing-up. I think this is a good move.
Car prices will go up, and we will lose back-up camera as an option(with markup) when ordering a car.

All that's required in parking sensors not cameras, I had it in the XF and I still preferred to use the beeping on the parking sensors combined with wing mirrors and rear window.

Frankly if you don't stop when the beeping gets quicker then you shouldn't be driving.

 

[Human]

You are far more intelligent and alert when you have none of these tools to help you. My backup Camera in my Benz has made me terrible at backing out without a camera with other cars. I'm not kidding.... it has literally decreased my abilities to perform that simple function with confidence, unless I have the Camera spoiling me.

Both me Beemers has the reverse cameras and the "Never solely rely on camera" warning displayed (if read as intended) made me actually use my rear view mirrors and neck muscles more. That is as you said Betty unfortunately not going to be every 'nut' behind the wheels natural way of using the tech. Nevertheless I hope the tech does become mandatory ONLY in conjunction with PDC (Park Distance Control)!

It's absolutely amazing and unbelievable at the same time how people (take myself and K-A for example) can experience just one technology totally different!

 

[Betty Swollocks]

Oh, and you can see a kid walk behind your big SUV when you look back?

Then make it compulsory on SUV's then, not EVERY......SINGLE......CAR, where it's just not needed and will encourage people not to check their blind spots.

 

[Mr Robert]

...and then we will need to know what a SUV is.

But I agree. This will just make sloppy people even sloppier.

"Bu, bu, but I did check the camera thingy, I swear! The camera didn't spot the kid! I'll sue the car dealer! I'm stupid, I have manure for a brain!"

 

[NarutoRamen]

I just hope that this doesn't give carmakers to charge $$$$ extra to put something that really only costs $$ at most.