How Effective Are Backup Cameras at Preventing Back-over Auto Accidents?
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Anyone who has driven a vehicle knows how challenging it can be to drive a vehicle in reverse even when the speed is as slow as possible. Back-up cameras allow the driver to see what is behind their rear bumper that they would not otherwise be able to see. A driver who is backing out of a parking space at the mall, or even out of their own driveway has limited visibility thus increasing their chances of hitting someone or something behind their vehicle while backing up. If a driver walks around the rear of the vehicle and surveys the space with their own eyes before backing, and then doing so slowly making use of both the rearview and side view mirror this can help prevent some back-over crashes. Backup cameras give the driver that extra set of eyes and some include an audible warning so that they do not hit an object and damage their vehicle or strike a person or pet and cause injury or death.
According to the NHTSA, a back-over crash occurs when a driver reverses their vehicle into and causes injury or kills a non-occupant such as a pedestrian or a bicyclist. NHTSA reports that back-over crashes of all vehicle types cause approximately 183 fatalities each year and between about 6,700 and 7,419 injuries. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has reported on some of the studies that have proven that the real world effectiveness of backup cameras is actually somewhat limited. The AAAFTS reports that backup cameras may reduce crashes by about 30 percent, however, 80 percent of drivers surveyed agreed that using the technology improves their safety and 96 percent found the device easy to use.
In 2014, Congress ordered the U.S. Department of Transportation to issue a rule that would require new cars and light trucks to come equipped with backup cameras by 2018. Now, two years later many more vehicles are equipped with backup cameras, and yet drivers are still backing into and over people and things. The Washington Post reports that the number of new cars with backup cameras more than doubled between 2008 and 2011, however the injuries caused by back-over accidents fell by less than 10 percent in that time frame. Fortunately, fatalities decreased by 31 percent, but the number of accidents increased, which suggests that simply adding a backup cameras is not going to save any lives. Drivers actually have to use them along with their mirrors.
So, backup cameras alone are not as effective as the driver using the technology along with their own careful, visual surveillance before putting their vehicle in reverse.
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Attorney Jeffrey S. Friedman joined Silverman, McDonald & Friedman in 2001. He graduated from Widener University School of Law, and is admitted to practice law in Delaware and Pennsylvania, and in several Federal Circuit courts. He areas of concentration include auto accident and workers’ compensation cases. Read more about Attorney Friedman here.