Personal Injury Blog

Industry Resists Rearview Camera Rule to Prevent Backover Accidents

November 29th, 2011
rearview camera system to prevent backover accidents

The rearview camera system displays the view behind the vehicle

The National Traffic Safety Administration is likely to face plenty of opposition from automakers over a rule that would require the installation of rearview cameras in automobiles, in order to prevent backover accidents involving children.

The agency is currently looking at the installation of rearview cameras on automobiles sold inside the United States beginning in 2014.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is looking to cut the number of children and pedestrians killed or injured in backover accidents.  Every year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 292 people are killed in backover accidents.  An additional 18,000 people are injured in these accidents.  The agency believes that installation of rearview cameras on automobiles will cut down the number of backover accident-related deaths to about 146 a year.

San  Diego car accident lawyers don’t find it at all surprising that the auto industry isn’t too keen on a rule that would require it to install rearview cameras on all automobiles.  Automakers allege that this is a prime example of overregulation by the federal agency.  According to estimates, it would cost automakers as much as $2.7 billion to install the devices on approximately 60 million cars a year.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry lobbying group that includes Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, Toyota and General Motors, says that any rearview camera system is likely to be a device that is not necessary, and that consumers may not want.  The rule calling for the installation of rearview camera systems on all automobiles to prevent backover accidents was contained in the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act, which was passed in 2008.  The law is named for a young child who was killed when his father backed his SUV, running over the child and killing him.  The law gives the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration a timeframe of three years to come up with rules that reduce the number of people being killed or injured in backover accidents.

It’s not as if automakers have not yet begun adding rearview cameras and other aids to help prevent backover accidents.  Backover camera systems are already available as a standard feature on an approximate 45% of 2012 car passenger models.  However, the industry is opposed to any requirement that demands that all companies install rearview cameras on all automobiles within the next two years.  Additionally, automakers believe that having a single size fits all device for all cars may not solve the problem, because the length of a blind spot depends on the make and model of the car.  For smaller cars like sedans, the blind spot length may be different from that for an SUV.

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