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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed new regulations that will mandate back-up cameras in all passenger cars, trucks, minivans and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less. If the proposed law goes into effect, automakers must make 10 percent of their fleets in compliance by 2012 and 40 percent by 2013. By 2014, all new vehicles must comply.
The measures are being proposed to reduce the number of back-over fatalities and injuries that occur each year. According to NHTSA, 292 people die yearly from back-over accidents, and 18,000 are injured.
If NHTSA's proposal becomes law, there will be added costs passed on to consumers. Most luxury vehicles particularly those with navigation systems are already equipped with this technology, but the systems are still likely to have a disproportionate impact on the MSRPs of inexpensive models.
Do you rely on back-up cameras in your vehicle? Do you think this reliance on technology is a step in the right direction, or do you feel it is over-reliance? Please let me know here, or email me, at jcurtis@mainstreetconnect.us.
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