Backup Cameras are Now Required in all New Cars

Started by SGOS, September 01, 2018, 08:46:57 AM

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SGOS

Thank God!  I first experienced a backup camera when I bought a 2015 Mazda 3.  At first it was difficult to use.  I kept wanting to take my eyes off the dashboard and turn my head around to look back, which becomes harder with each passing year.  It felt unsafe not to have direct visual contact with my surroundings.  There was this gadget between me and my driving.  Two years later, I bought a 2017 Miata.  Even the most loaded Miata doesn't come that way, and I miss that camera.  It provides a rear and side view that the human eye is not capable of.

But as of May 1st this year all new cars are required to have them.  Hurray for regulation! 

https://carbuzz.com/news/your-next-new-car-will-almost-certainly-have-a-backup-camera
QuoteAccording to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, backup cameras have reduced backup-related crashes by 17%. This is a significant figure considering 12,000 people are injured every year in backup incidences, and 200 are killed. Fortunately, if you buy a car after this year, it will definitely come with a backup camera.

Granted backup crashes are seldom fatal and happen a low speeds, but who wants to knock down an old lady in the parking lot and break her hip?  And safety issues aside, they are big help in maneuvering in close quarters.  You can actually see when your back bumper is within an inch of an obstruction.  Backing into narrow spaces is simplified greatly.  I'll take the backup camera before the sunroof any day.  My brother-in-law says he'd like to have a forward camera too, although that seems like overkill. 


Gawdzilla Sama

Good damned nanny state!



I used to work for  a "major US insurance company". One of the accidents I handled involved a Dodge Ram 1500 backing over six kids. One fatality, one kid permanently wheelchair-bound.  The dead kid belonged to the driver. We couldn't pay anything for that child, the policy protects you from third party claims.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

_Xenu_

Its going to make vehicles more expensive by forcing people to pay for something they don't want.
Click this link once a day to feed shelter animals. Its free.

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/ars/home

Gawdzilla Sama

Quote from: _Xenu_ on September 01, 2018, 09:13:35 AM
Its going to make vehicles more expensive by forcing people to pay for something they don't want.
Same with airbags, passive restraints, rear view mirrors, turn signals, headlights...
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

Baruch

Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on September 01, 2018, 09:16:28 AM
Same with airbags, passive restraints, rear view mirrors, turn signals, headlights...

One thing ... the extra rear light in the middle of the rear window ... is for morons who can't see your brake lights otherwise.  That was nanny-state.  The other things are good inventions.  But yes, only the wealthy should be allowed to drive .. no car less than $50K.  Takes all the peasants off of the highways ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Gawdzilla Sama

Quote from: Baruch on September 01, 2018, 09:23:16 AM
One thing ... the extra rear light in the middle of the rear window ... is for morons who can't see your brake lights otherwise.  That was nanny-state.
That light prevents YOUR car from getting damaged. I can see how that's an issue for people who don't think about it.
QuoteThe other things are good inventions.  But yes, only the wealthy should be allowed to drive .. no car less than $50K.  Takes all the peasants off of the highways ;-)
Your hyperbole is consistent.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

SGOS

Quote from: _Xenu_ on September 01, 2018, 09:13:35 AM
Its going to make vehicles more expensive by forcing people to pay for something they don't want.
People don't want others backing into them either, so we have competing wants.  It's not so much about what people don't want.  It's about what people do want.  One person might not want a backup camera because he doesn't expect to back into anyone, and if he does, it's likely to be a fender bender where the car will only be out of commission for a couple of days, and the bill will be less than $1000.  But both parties will be inconvenienced.

Never-the-less, statistically it reduces accidents.  Yes, it will add to the price of a new car, especially so when it's installed by the maker, and it's annoying that manufacturers charge 5 times more for the same aftermarket features.  But I don't mind regulations that save me from the other guy who is willing to play the odds that he won't damage my property and then runs into me.

SGOS

Coincidentally, I witnessed a backup crash just last week.  Well, I didn't actually see it, but I was sitting in a parking lot, and heard the crash just behind me.  I don't know who was at fault, I think legally fault is usually assigned to the guy backing up, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was.  I drove off while the people were still standing around their cars talking and looking at their bumpers.  The cops weren't there yet. 

Baruch

Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on September 01, 2018, 09:47:54 AM
That light prevents YOUR car from getting damaged. I can see how that's an issue for people who don't think about it. Your hyperbole is consistent.

Easy to prevent.  Make me dictator, only I can drive.  Yes, obey the insurance companies, who buy congress-critters like baseball card trades.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Baruch

#9
Quote from: SGOS on September 01, 2018, 09:58:23 AM
People don't want others backing into them either, so we have competing wants.  It's not so much about what people don't want.  It's about what people do want.  One person might not want a backup camera because he doesn't expect to back into anyone, and if he does, it's likely to be a fender bender where the car will only be out of commission for a couple of days, and the bill will be less than $1000.  But both parties will be inconvenienced.

Never-the-less, statistically it reduces accidents.  Yes, it will add to the price of a new car, especially so when it's installed by the maker, and it's annoying that manufacturers charge 5 times more for the same aftermarket features.  But I don't mind regulations that save me from the other guy who is willing to play the odds that he won't damage my property and then runs into me.

Statistically we are all dead, eventually.  Don' quote insurance company statistics ... it only effects their bottom line (and your premiums).  Want to reduce premiums ... get the proles off the road.  Socrates' answer .. only let experts do what they are expert at, ban all others doing that.  Only expert drivers can drive.  Definitely ban anyone under the age of 50 ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Baruch

Quote from: SGOS on September 01, 2018, 10:03:18 AM
Coincidentally, I witnessed a backup crash just last week.  Well, I didn't actually see it, but I was sitting in a parking lot, and heard the crash just behind me.  I don't know who was at fault, I think legally fault is usually assigned to the guy backing up, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was.  I drove off while the people were still standing around their cars talking and looking at their bumpers.  The cops weren't there yet.

Came close last night.  Backing up, while cross traffic in parking lot by young buck in big red truck in a hurry.  Of course we would both be a fault.  When I was on vacation earlier this month, drove a 2018 car with the back up camera (and others had told me they liked theirs).  Wouldn't have helped in this case, because the truck was crossing-my-T ... peripheral vision was required, and paranoia backing up anytime.  Going forward is dangerous enough, going backward may be necessary, but is backward ;-)

You assume I am a Luddite ... you are wrong.  I just don't think that laws or technology is G-d.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Mermaid

I was resistant because my husband bought a new truck with one that would beep at you with increasing intensity as you got closer to an object. It gives me for real anxiety, like someone in the back seat yelling at you to stop stop STOP STOP STOP!!!!!!

But apparently you can turn that off, and my new car has one, it's invaluable. When I rent a car without one, I miss it a lot.

When I was about 10, I was riding my bike up the street and a woman backed out of her driveway, right into me (I had stopped to wait) and my bike hooked onto her bumper and she dragged me for a bit before she noticed.
A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticise work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities â€" all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness. -TR

Gawdzilla Sama

I have convex "bull's eye" mirror on my side mirrors, field of view ~170°. I miss them when I'm in a rental.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

Baruch

Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on September 01, 2018, 10:57:34 AM
I have convex "bull's eye" mirror on my side mirrors, field of view ~170°. I miss them when I'm in a rental.

Things are closer than they appear ... like the apocalypse ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Gawdzilla Sama

Quote from: Baruch on September 01, 2018, 10:58:28 AM
Things are closer than they appear ... like the apocalypse ;-)
In "Jurassic Park" the convex mirror was on the wrong side of the Jeep. It goes on the side opposite the driver.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers