NHTSA may add backup camera requirement

[HarryLui]

Lots of SUV in Asian country have a variation of that mirror installed.

 

[Sluggo]

Alternatively, we could put cow catchers on the back of cars. Just scoop up the little cherubs, as Grammy bullets backwards out of the trailer park.

 

[SparkyJJO]

NHTSA: "You need a billion airbags in your pillars and need them to hold up 3x the weight of the vehicle!"

<pillars get thick and visibility reduced>

NHTSA: "Your visibility sucks, you now must have cameras!"

<everyone hates NHTSA>

 

[exdeath]

Or we could just teach our children not to play in or around cars...

 

[NoCreativity]

High waistlines (a style consideration) and thick roof pillars (from side airbags) happened.

But I think it's mostly just people being complete idiots the moment they step into a car.

Or we could just teach our children not to play in or around cars...

Exdeath is right on this. It's not just stupid drivers, it's also stupid parents not teaching their kids to respect cars.

If cars had to be designed for every contingency it's moron owner would put it through, I would guess even a "cheap" car would be well into six figures, even excluding amortized R&D costs.

They already do this in some areas. I work with a couple engineers who used to do seatbelt/airbag design and testing for the big 3. The government mandates that airbags work to a certain effectiveness even if the occupant isn't wearing a seatbelt. Millions are spent on this so that some idiot not wearing a belt can be somewhat protected. WTF?!

 

[AstroManLuca]

NHTSA: "You need a billion airbags in your pillars and need them to hold up 3x the weight of the vehicle!"

<pillars get thick and visibility reduced>

NHTSA: "Your visibility sucks, you now must have cameras!"

<everyone hates NHTSA>

"Cars these days get such poor fuel economy! Fix that!"

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

My grandmother is 89 and drives a Trailblazer. She was at Target the other day and this woman with her brood of three were going into the store and walking behind her car.

She got in, watched them walk off, and noticed only two of the spawn were visible. She got out and the third was behind her car picking up something off the ground. No camera needed.

If she can be diligent and mindful enough to know operating a two ton piece of steel can kill someone, those who can't should only be allowed to drive a pair of hard pants.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Wish I could have added one to my new vehicle for $180 instead of having to pay $2k for the technology package.

 

[bruceb]

I do not need or want any of these so "help the idiot driver extras" such as:

Active Suspension .. wait till you get the bill when it fails. Way more than standard struts.

Rear View camera .. nice in some cases, like hooking up a trailer, but costs too much.

Tire Pressure Senors .. nice, but the sensors get replaced every 3rd or 4th set of tires at a fairly high cost. Also on some cars, you can not easily reset the sensor or the pressure at which it alerts at. Or what is the "normal psi" you would like to run. Not everyone runs the factory PSI (I go about 3 up)

Antilock brakes .. they have been out many years and are one item that actually does help.

 

[justfrank]

Wish I could have added one to my new vehicle for $180 instead of having to pay $2k for the technology package.

Good point. I think they're smoking something if they think a decent camera and decent sized dash monitor will somehow only cost $180 combined. I doubt that either part for any current manufacturer costs that little.

My grandmother is 89 and drives a Trailblazer. She was at Target the other day and this woman with her brood of three were going into the store and walking behind her car.
She got in, watched them walk off, and noticed only two of the spawn were visible. She got out and the third was behind her car picking up something off the ground. No camera needed.

Very observant person. Most probably wouldn't have noticed that and those parents would have had one less kid and that's the fault of the parents who aren't watching their kids in a parking lot.

 

[LTC8K6]

I do not need or want any of these so "help the idiot driver extras" such as:

Active Suspension .. wait till you get the bill when it fails. Way more than standard struts.

Rear View camera .. nice in some cases, like hooking up a trailer, but costs too much.

Tire Pressure Senors .. nice, but the sensors get replaced every 3rd or 4th set of tires at a fairly high cost. Also on some cars, you can not easily reset the sensor or the pressure at which it alerts at. Or what is the "normal psi" you would like to run. Not everyone runs the factory PSI (I go about 3 up)

Antilock brakes .. they have been out many years and are one item that actually does help.

Federally mandated electronic stability control requires that a lot of hi-tech stuff be added to every car, including those tire pressure sensors.

 

[halik]

I hope the reverse stuff is more reliable than TPMS, still don't understand how this is a NHTSA policy issue or how careless drivers running people over in reverse somehow translates to compelling interest of the federal govt.

Incidentally I retrofitted one into my M3, makes parallel parking around Chicago easier.

 

[SearchMaster]

no more shocking than mandating that cars have seatbelts.

There are a LOT more vehicle accidents where seatbelts would have helped than where a rear-view camera would have helped. 112 deaths per year, while tragic, is not a very big number.

You could certainly use the mirror instead of a nav screen for cars without the larger screen. It seems like this would be better anyway.

 

[bruceb]

Federally mandated electronic stability control requires that a lot of hi-tech stuff be added to every car, including those tire pressure sensors.

I understand about the federal mandate and that is what I am annoyed about. These should be OPTIONS and not mandatory to help idiot drivers, who should not even be behind the wheel. You should know how to control the car in any condition and how to do basic things like check oil and tires. And if they insist on ramming this crap down our throats, the cost better be reasonable (say $1,000 max) but we all know this garbage adds more like $3,000 to $4,000 to the cost of a vehicle. Not to mention the added costs to FIX these systems when they break down (and they will, you can be sure about it)