Posted on 05/02/2018 12:09:36 PM PDT by BBell
All newly manufactured vehicles to be sold in the U.S. are required as of Tuesday to have backup cameras equipped as a standard feature.
Advocates for the rule, which was mandated by the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency in 2014, hope today’s milestone will lead to fewer instances of drivers backing into people due to a lack of visibility.
“This day is so important because we don’t have a choice” when it comes to children’s safety around cars, said Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars.org, an advocacy group that works to prevent accidents involving children and motor vehicles. “This measure will save countless lives, especially of children.”
Congress passed the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act in 2008. The bill, signed into law by then-President George W. Bush, ordered NHTSA to issue by 2011 a standard for improving drivers’ ability to detect pedestrians behind their vehicles.
NHTSA’s proposed standard was stalled for several years in the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, according to a Reuters. It wasn’t until March 2014, when a coalition of advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation (of which NHTSA is a part), that a rule was issued, with a May 1, 2018, deadline for full implementation.
Today was 16 years in the making for Dr. Greg Gulbransen, who in 2002 accidentally backed over and killed his 2-year-old son Cameron, the namesake of the bill Congress enacted.
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This day and age, it’s not a big deal, and it is quite a useful feature on my newer car. I wish my Expedition had one! Wife has backed into many things...
We need cameras because there’s no rear window anymore. The entire car is one flipping air bag container.
Don’t like back up cameras. Too easy to rust on basic skills, like backing up your car. That said, right now back up cams are a convenience, but if it breaks, whatever. Now will you be required to get it fixed when it breaks?
Can they have a device that jams all texting applications?
No choice. Just another law on the books. Will we be required to fix it if it breaks? A lot of states have state inspections. Is it an essential safety device now?
I like the mirrors on my truck. You can program them to tilt automatically to your favorite angle when you put it into reverse.
I was wondering that too. Some states have inspections so if it breaks will you be denied an inspection sticker?
UGH, More regulations = higher prices.
Next step will be proper camera operation will be part of vehicle inspection requirements.
Modern cars have so many blind spots that a rear view camera has become necessary.
Amen. And I can still drive a stick shift. I won’t lose muh skillz.
All this stuff bakes in an Phoenix, AZ summer.
They are requiring something that is pretty much already standard. Heck, our two year old Scion iA came standard with one, and that is an el-cheapo car.
It’s as if the government thinks that creating useless laws is a zero sum game. They shouldn’t pass a law unless it is truly necessary. This one isn’t. It’s stupid and a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Nope, that would be unfair to the millennials.
So how much is this going to add to the cost of a car? They will keep thinking up crap like this and making it mandatory so as to jack thr price of vehicles up so high that the only way a poor person will be able to travel is by public transportation.
Ford is hurting because they build cars nobody wants to buy.
The new Toyota Camry’s will essentially drive themselves on long freeway straight sections. It’s only on the curves that you may have to take the wheel.
It is clear that we are not suddenly going to get “self driving” cars. It will be incrementalized. A little here, a little there, and the next thing you know you’re talking to the people in the back seat, facing them from the driver’s seat.
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