Baby Got Back…Up Cameras

We came across an article in one of our monthly newsletters that was pretty interesting, and a definite game changer on the road (no pun intended) to safer driving conditions.

According to the source, a recent study by iSeeCars.com found that currently, less than nine percent of vehicles on the road have a back-up camera system installed. For the sake of keeping this a short read, here are some other interesting points from the study:

• The study predicts that by 2018, 31 percent of vehicles on the road will be equipped with backup camera systems.

• In 2007, of the cars released that model year, 2.8% were equipped with backup camera systems; five years later, the 15.7% of 2012 model year vehicles were equipped with such systems.

• 30.4% of 2013 model year vehicles were equipped with backup camera systems, just under double the percentage of the year before.

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s recently ruled that back-up cameras or “rear visibility technology” will need to be installed by manufacturers for all new vehicles under 10,000 pounds built in or after May 2018.

• The backup camera feature is standard in a higher percentage of larger vehicles, such as SUVs and minivans.



So what does all of this mean for drivers? I think we can all agree that this is a good thing for everyone. Even those of us who work at paint and body shops know that eliminating blind spots while maximizing the range of visibility for a driver is an undeniably good thing. We can hopefully look forward to fewer collisions; whether accidental bumping while parking, to the more serious incidents involving hard to see people and pets.