Every year, thousands of children are hurt or killed because a driver backing up didn't see them. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 228 people die and around 17,000 people are injured annually in backover accidents involving cars, trucks and SUVs.
About 2,000 of the injuries and about 100 of those deaths involved children under 5 years old. If all vehicles had the new cameras, it would save 95 to 112 lives and eliminate 7,072 to 8,374 injuries a year.
For the most part, back-over incidents take place in residential driveways or parking lots and about three-quarters of the time it is a parent or close relative who's behind the wheel. The main reason that back-over accidents are so frequent is that every vehicle has a rear blind zone, the area you can't see from the driver's seat. And that zone to the rear is bigger than you might think, ranging from about 25 feet for a minivan to 50 feet for some pickup trucks which is plenty of space for an unwary child to be in harm's way. Many new cars have proximity sensors that beep with increasing frequency when you back toward solid objects. They work well as parking aids, but are not informative enough to let you know the presence of a pedestrian or child.
It is likely that vehicle backup safety cameras will be standard equipment in all passenger vehicles by 2014 as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expected to finalize the guidelines for the Department of Transportation. The mandate is likely to raise a car's base price, as much of the cost will probably be passed on to consumers. Though it will hit economy cars the hardest, the auto industry in general has been heading down this road for some time. Backup cameras have become more affordable and available in recent years.
So your vehicle does not have a backup camera, what can you do? Add-on camera systems like the Tow Ready Hindsight Single Backup Camera System can reduce the chances of backing over pedestrians, animals and other objects. A camera mounted at the rear end of the vehicle displays an image on a small LCD screen inside allowing the driver to view what is behind them when backing out. This helps to eliminate the rear blind zone.
Whether you’re a teenager just learning to drive or someone that has been driving for many years, everyone can benefit from a Backup Camera System.
You can order backup camera systems by calling Michigan Truck Spring 1-800-358-4751.