Mandating rearview cameras on all new passenger vehicles will not happen today as previously planned but will be delayed until later this year as the National Highway Traffic Safeway Administration needs more time for “study and data analysis”.
“I believe it is important to allot additional time to ensure that the final rule is appropriate and the underlying analysis is robust,” wrote Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
The rearview cameras, already common in many new models, are designed to visualize areas where the drivers normally cannot see through the back window or the side mirrors, reducing the risk of accident while moving in reverse.
In 2008, President Bush signed an auto-safety law, mandating the Transportation Department to come up with a requirement by 2011. LaHood had delayed the deadline twice already. The original proposal was designed in three phases to have all new vehicles to be equipped with rear-view cameras by 2014. USA Today suspects the 2014 goal may not be realistic because of today’s delay.
According to NHTSA, there are around 225 deaths – 44 percent being children under five – and 18,000 injuries each year because of back-over accidents. The regulators say mandating rearview cameras on all new vehicles could save 95 to 112 deaths and 8,374 injuries.
Lobbyists for the Alliance of Automobile Manufactures proposed to have expanded mirrors as an alternative option for the manufacturers, noting rearview cameras would cost the industries around $2.7 billion. Mirrors, on the other hand, would only cost $1 billion.
“We had urged the government to explore all the options, including mirrors with a wider field of vision,” said Gloria Bergquist, vice president of the alliance.
Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, said the numbers saved may not seem high compared to the money spent, but back-over deaths are some of the worst imaginable tragedy because many accidents involve parents killing their own child. A non-profit organization KidsandCars.org who campaigned with NHTSA said more than two-thirds of the back-over accidents had parents or close relatives behind the wheel.
“In terms of absolute numbers of lives saved, it certainly isn't the highest. But in terms of emotional tragedy, back-over deaths are some of the worst imaginable. When you have a parent that kills a child in an incident that's utterly avoidable, they don't ever forget it,” said Ditlow.
Ditlow added, “Sure, a mirror is going to be cheaper, but will a mirror get the job done? The answer is no.”
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