Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/112499
drive smart: Reverse Decisions A forward-thinking look at rear-view cameras I t���s a heart-breaking gallery of photos. Thirty family album snapshots showing children doing what wee ones do: blowing bubbles, wearing Superman suits and oversized ball caps, on the slide, in daddy���s arms, always smiling. All are achingly young, most not even two years old. And all are dead, backed over by drivers who just didn���t see them. Adding to the heartbreak is the certainty that these pictures and tragic tales on the CarsAndKids.org website are yet more evidence that ���backovers��� occur too frequently to be considered unavoidable. In fact, according to KidsAndCars.org (the first organization to focus attention on this child-safety issue), at least 50 children ��� most just 12 to 23 months old ��� are backed over by vehicles in the U.S. every week, resulting in 100-plus fatalities annually. In more than 70 per cent of such incidents, a parent or close relative is behind the wheel, 60 per cent of them driving a van, truck or SUV. No reliable Canadian stats yet exist (a KidsAndCars.org/Canada chapter formed in late 2011 has taken up the challenge). But north-of-the-border drivers will certainly benefit from new-car U.S. regulations brought about largely through the efforts of KidsAndCars.org and one of its most passionate advocates, Greg Gulbransen. In 2002, the Oyster Bay, New York, pediatrician backed his own SUV over his own son, twoyear-old Cameron, in the family���s driveway. And in the years following, Gulbransen has fought hard for the passage of the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act to prevent similar tragedies. Also known as the Kids and Cars Act, Gulbransen���s 2008 legislation required that (rear-view camera) Wieck Media, istock p18-19_DrivSmrt.indd 19 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) create safety standards for passenger vehicles driven in reverse within three years. Though that February 2011 deadline has come and gone (the Department of Transport requested a postponement for further study and to refine manufacturer specifications), NHTSA���s revised standards are now expected by late 2012. Meanwhile, naysayers argue that such changes are unnecessary, that only more careful drivers are needed. But researchers continue to accumulate even more evidence that what used to be called a vehicle���s ���blind spot��� has grown into a ���blind zone��� ��� as carmakers enlarge vehicles, raise beltlines, fatten interior ���pillars��� and reduce window sizes, ironically to improve vehicle safety. As a result, child fatalities from backovers have more than doubled in the past five years. So look behind you, because here���s what���s coming: rear-view cameras as standard equipment in all new passenger vehicles in the U.S. as of 2014 ��� 2015 at the latest. Given that Canada almost inevitably follows America���s lead in automotive regulations, the lifesaving technology is forecast to become standard by 2015 here, too. And though regulators estimate the technology will add $160 to $230 to new-vehicle costs, even a cursory glance at the gallery of lost children at CarsAndKids.org confirms it���s an incredibly small price to pay. ���Lisa Ricciotti The Back Story . 45 per cent of 2012 vehicles in Canada currently feature some kind of rear-view camera. Unfortunately, in high-end models the technology tends to be bundled with in-car GPS navigation and audio systems ��� a $2,000 option. Or viewing screens may be built into half of the rear-view mirror, dif���cult to see in bright light. (Better systems tuck a rear-view video display into the centre console.) . Wireless after-market rear-view cameras are also available for approximately $100. But beware of models taking 15 seconds and more to show images; most drivers won���t wait before reversing. . As for proponents of audible reverse-warningsystems, NHTSA pitted this older technology against the new rear-view cameras and found that drivers are consistently better at avoiding unseen obstacles with rear-view cameras. . How big is a vehicle���s back-up blind spot? That depends on a driver���s height and vehicle model, and increases when the latter is parked on an incline. When Consumer Reports tested which vehicles had the best and worst blind zones using ���ve-foot-one and ���ve-foot-eight drivers, no-see areas extended from a length of four feet behind a Mazda2 to 51 feet behind a Chevrolet Avalanche 1500 pickup. Both blind spots were reduced to zero by rearview cameras (see complete study at kidsandcars.org/ user���les/dangers/backovers/ consumer-reports-bz-measurements.pdf). . Meanwhile, until rear-view cameras are standard equipment in Canadian vehicles (and even afterward), safety experts advise that motorists conduct a walk-about before driving any vehicle, be it forward or backward. WESTWORLD >> FA L L 2 0 1 2 19 12-08-17 1:45 PM