Why Back up Cameras will soon become Mandatory for New Vehicles

Transport Canada recently announced that back up (rear) cameras will become mandatory for all new passenger cars and small trucks by May 2018.   Three-wheelers, small vans and busses will also be required to have back up cameras.  This change will align Canada with standards similarly announced in the U. S. to be mandated in 2018.

The reason for this new requirement is that back up cameras have been proven to be very effective at helping drivers avoid hitting objects, especially people, while driving in reverse. In a 2014 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), backup cameras reduced the blind zone, on average, by approximately 90 per cent.  This technology is particularly useful when young children and other people are in a driveway, on the sidewalk or anywhere behind a vehicle and not readily visible to the driver.   Back up cameras are even more effective than parking sensors, which tend to be poor at discerning people. 

Young children are killed every year in parking lots and in the driveways of their own homes.  Young children, elderly individuals and disabled persons are particularly vulnerable and more likely to be seriously injured or killed in backup accidents. Transport Canada has estimated that 27 people were killed and another 1,500 were injured in a five-year period, from such collisions.  

Many vehicles have large blind zones which prevent a driver from seeing people or objects behind their rear bumper, especially smaller people or objects.  The 2014 IIHS study found that in general, the larger the passenger vehicle, the poorer the visibility.  Pickup trucks and SUV’s generally have the largest blind zones and are involved in the most accidents involving backing over or into a person.  By contrast, small cars have the best visibility.  One exception to the rule was the Hyundai Sonata which is a midsize car but was found to have a significantly larger blind zone than the F-150 pickup truck (with respect to a 12-15-month-old child).

A backup camera provides almost full coverage behind a vehicle.  However, Transport Canada warns that they do not replace safe driving practices.  Notably, the effectiveness of a backup camera depends on a driver reversing slowly (less than 3 km/hr) to allow him/her enough reaction time.  Also, factors such as darkness, rain, glare and dirt on the camera make it more difficult to see, and drivers need to adjust for these circumstances (and keep their camera clean).  Also, a backup camera does not negate the use of mirrors and checking over your shoulder and in both directions to ensure safe backup.  

Source:

www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/49/2/1

www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehiclesafety/safevehicles-backing-aids-1069.htm