NHTSA proposes mandatory backup cameras in all new cars

Discussion in 'Politics and other "Messy" Stuff' started by Nathan, Dec 3, 2010.

  1. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    Ahhhhh.......
    You're subscriptions are taking way to long in getting to you. Sometime (not soon) you'll read about something called the interwebz. :D
     
  2. 05r50

    05r50 Well-Known Member

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    Interesting. Also political. But I will say they have their place.

    I just purchased a cheapy unit that wires to the reverse tail light for under $60 on sale at the parts store.

    I did it because last year I had disc fusion surgery on my neck which limits my range of movement. This helps me see what is back there.

    It DOES NOT provide me with any
    Proximity relationship. Am I 2 ft or 10 ft away? Just stop the car and get out, there is an object behind you.

    For pedestrian safety, kids, I think this in concert with proximity sensors is quite helpful.

    None of this addresses who is going to pay. Not sure we can ever solve that issue when it comes to these things. Heck I still have friends that won't buckle up. They drive all day with that darned dinger bell going off.

    Go figure.
     
  3. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    I think it will be helpful for some. Others will let the camera lens accumulate road carp & never see out of it again. Ever notice how people can't be bothered to clean there windows? If there is frost or snow lots of folks just make a peep hole & drive on oblivious to who or what is around them.
     
  4. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    SOUTHFIELD, Michigan -- A U.S. rule that may require all cars and light trucks sold in the country to have rearview cameras won't be issued by today's deadline and may be delayed until after November's presidential election, regulators said.

    A 2008 auto-safety law signed by President George W. Bush mandated the Transportation Department to issue the requirement by the end of 2011.

    It's now being pushed back a second time by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and will be issued by Dec. 31, the department said.

    "If we have a strong safety agenda, then we have to deal with the issue of people injuring or killing children as a result of backover accidents," LaHood said on Tuesday. "We want to make sure we have a good rule."

    The proposed rule, estimated to cost $2.7 billion, was listed as one of the five most expensive pending U.S. regulations in an Aug. 30 letter President Barack Obama sent to House Republican leaders.

    Requiring backup cameras would add $58 to $203 to the cost of a vehicle, depending on the model and whether it already has a video screen, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said.

    "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," the agency said in its statement.

    Gentex benefit

    The rule may save about 146 lives a year by improving rear visibility of vehicles, NHTSA estimated in 2010 when it issued a proposed rule. While the law doesn't explicitly require a rearview camera, no other technology currently meets the standard.

    Back-over accidents cause 292 U.S. deaths annually, most frequently killing children and the elderly.

    At a cost of $2.7 billion a year for an annual fleet of 16.6 million, the regulator's highest estimate, each life saved would cost $18.5 million.

    The rule will benefit Gentex Corp., a maker of rearview mirrors that include camera displays, David Leiker, a Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst, said in a Dec. 28 report.

    Gentex, based in Zeeland, Michigan, may have revenue growth of as much as 20 percent on shipment growth of as much as 14 percent spanning three to four years, Leiker said in the report.

    The company, which reported $1.02 billion in revenue in the year that ended Sept. 30, competes against Magna International Inc. as well as makers of systems that display images from backup cameras in navigation systems.

    Automaker criticism

    Fifty children are backed over each week on average, and two are killed, according to KidsAndCars.org, a U.S. group that advocates a camera requirement. Seventy percent are backed over by a parent or other close relative, with 1-year-olds being the predominant age, according to the group's data.

    Automakers through the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, whose members include General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., criticized the proposal issued in December 2010, saying a single standard doesn't make sense because bigger models have larger blind spots.

    Backup cameras are standard on 45 percent of 2012-model vehicles sold in the U.S., according to data compiled by Edmunds.com, a Santa Monica, California-based website that tracks automotive sales.
     
  5. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    How about designing cars you can see out the back of instead?
     
  6. minimark

    minimark Well-Known Member

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    If drivers aren't aware of what is behind them before backing up now, who's to say they will actually look at the back up camera screen then....?

    Had a customer just the other day in a brand new Lexus with a back up camera, back right across our parking lot and into the only other vehicle on that side of the lot....
     
  7. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    Hair in their eyes? HEH!
     
  8. grodenglaive

    grodenglaive New Member

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    Some people need shoulder-check cameras too. I got cut off again today - had to hit the brakes hard enough to engage the ABS.:mad5: It was a veeery close call.
     
  9. minimark

    minimark Well-Known Member

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    LOL, don't think so...she blamed it on a brain fart.:Thumbsup:
     
  10. Johngo

    Johngo New Member
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    #30 Johngo, Feb 29, 2012
    Last edited: Feb 29, 2012
    How about we all wear high pressure rubber suits that keep us from getting hurt at all so we do not actually have to have a little responsibility for our actions and actually pay attention to what we are doing while driving? The government cannot protect us from everything. But they are going make sure they spend all of our $$$ trying. Bunch of yo-yos.
     
  11. Friskie

    Friskie Well-Known Member

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    How many more times will our dear nanny offer to 'protect' us from our selves until we won't be able to step out of the house without filing a travel plan and waiting for our Gov't safety escort to arrive at our doorstep?

    The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has it's limitations.

    Watch Funniest Home Videos sometime and count the number if morons trying to kill themselves on trampolines, jumping off rooftops and launching themselves on highspeed conveyances directly into the paths of mail boxes, pine trees and sudden drop-offs then ask yourself: If they survive that then get behind the wheel of a car, what chance do the rest of us have?
     
  12. Firebro17

    Firebro17 Dazed, but not Confused
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    Everyone here has made such great comments addressing most all aspects of the issue. As a former first responder to more than one of this type of incident, and more than one with a less-than-favorable outcome, I certainly understand the back-up camera advocate sentiment. However, I view the issue as being much further reaching that that of mandatory backup cameras. The depth of the overall issue is pretty much politically incorrect in many circles, and is something that simply cannot be legislated to make go away.

    Regardless of whether or not this becomes a mandatory piece of safety equipment in the future, very sadly, there will continue to be incidents where loose children will fall victim to, and may possibly succumb to their injuries from, the inattentive person behind the wheel. Are the accidents preventable? Not entirely. Cameras have their place, and will likely do some good for some, just not all.

    I guess we'll all stay tuned and watch what happens. Personally, I believe the auto industry would do well to be proactive and move towards cameras as a standard piece of equipment and beat the legislators to the punch. If they'd do that, I believe it would be a well received gesture on their part and would save money in the long run.

    Just my .02.
     
  13. Friskie

    Friskie Well-Known Member

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    Good point.

    So, we wait to see which is more to our liking; the altruism of big industry or big government.

    "I've been Ayn Randed nearly branded a Commun...well...never mind."
     
  14. Jason Montague

    Jason Montague New Member
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    :cornut: I believe the comedian Ron(?) White said it best:" You can't fix(or legislate)Stupid!:Thumbsup:

    Jason
     
  15. Friskie

    Friskie Well-Known Member

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    If you want to scroll back a page or two, I posted that very youtube clip.
     
  16. ronnie948

    ronnie948 New Member

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    really is a stupis idea! Yes-Stupid

    Now the idiot driving can just back up looking at a stupid 4 or 5 inch screen instead of actually turning their stupid head and looking where they are backing.

    Just when I think I have seen stupid stuff the idiot's make car manufactures put on the new cars they always seem to top themselves with just plain stupid crap.

    If they really want safety they need to put the knobs back on the dash to control things without having to take the drivers eye's off the road while driving. The TV screen belongs in a living room and not a car.

    I'll probably keep my 2009 factory JCW forever because at least I can see the speedometer without looking at a TV screen.

    :postcount
     
  17. goaljnky

    goaljnky New Member

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    How about we employ the European standard (German preferably) of getting a drivers license? Here in Kali (as I am sure other states) you can actually take driver's test in a number of different languages (including Russian, my native). I've been driving for 30+ years and I've yet to see a sign in Russian. Never mind ability to change a tire in an emergency.
     
  18. Jason Montague

    Jason Montague New Member
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    :cornut: Well that'll teach me to keep abreast of happenings around here.:lol::lol::lol::Thumbsup:

    Jason
     

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