Backup cameras mandated for all cars for 2018 (US & Canada)

[DSMHondaGuy]

Originally Posted by nemo

They certainly will sue the manufacturer, they are the one with the deep pockets.

And they will lose almost instantly, likely because there will be a disclaimer or some such and move on to the driver, you know the person actually responsible for operating the vehicle.

My point is no one wants to be responsible for their actions anymore, and this bull **** tech is going to cause a false sense of the responsibility being shifted even more away from the person who's feet it actually lays at. No one needs it, what they need to be better drivers and take **** more seriously though.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by DSMHondaGuy

More and more people are gladly shifting responsibility off of themselves and onto tech. and I think it's a very very unwise thing to do.

This is where I'm conflicted. People are increasingly reliant on technology and less capable when it fails. On the other hand, people are way more productive with their time due to leveraging technology. We could all live as the Amish and be very capable living off the land, but be very ineffective at being creative with all the free time that technology allows.

Vehicles will one day be safe enough to pay no attention at all, and that will allow us to either be more productive with our time, or have more leisure. Arriving at my destination 12hrs later and fully rested sounds like a net benefit to me.

It's certainly silly and arbitrary to say that the right amount of technology is the amount I'm used to now, and emerging technology is the worst. There were curmudgeons that made similar protests when the telephone came out, or radio, or any technology. Sure, some technologies are passing fads that will fade away in short order, but others will pave the way forward into the future.

I'm confident that rearview cameras are the future, and not a passing fad. After being wrong about technology for most of my life, I'm beginning to get good at knowing what has long term potential.

[Natalya]

I'm surprised people in this thread are seriously trying to argue that backup cameras are a bad idea.

Y'all can be all, "well a GOOD driver doesn't need it, and BAD drivers should get off the road," which might sound nice, but let's get real here:

Almost every driver is bad.

Including me and you.

Because we're human. We're not perfect. We can get distracted. We might not hear something. There's a blind spot. We're normally calm but this one time we're in a hurry. Etc. The camera helps make this stuff easier and safer.

I was in my Mustang once (not very tall) in a parking lot and someone in a CRV backed into me because his rearview mirror did not allow him to see me. Maybe if he checked his side mirrors he would have been able to see me, but for whatever reason he didn't, and I got smoked. But if he had a backup camera (easier to check than either the rearview or sides) he would have seen me and an accident could have been avoided.

Should he have checked his side mirrors? Yeah, sure, but fact is he didn't. Not sure why, maybe he was distracted or anything else on that list above. Or maybe he did check them but my car was black and he couldn't see it anyway. But irrespective of why he backed into me, that accident cost his insurance company about $2000 and all that money was used for was fighting entropy instead of something productive and I had to waste time dealing with a body repair shop. I want the next guy to have a backup camera so I don't get smoked.

Also, I used to be in the same camp -- "I don't need a backup camera, I can parallel park like a damn pro, I can put this car anywhere I want to." Well, I installed a Kenwood stereo in my G2 Insight, and like it had a camera feature, so a few months later I put a backup camera on the car that wires to the new stereo.

I want to tell you, it is the god damned best thing I have ever put on a car. At night I can easily back down the driveway to park my car. No problems at all I can see everything and I don't have to twist my head and stuff. It is so much easier to back into parking spots too, it even has the tire location markers so I know what I'm going to run into and what I'm not going to run into. It's the greatest thing ever. Did I NEED it? No. But is it fantastic? Yes. It absolutely is.

[Lemmy]

Mandates back up cameras, while allowing citizens to slaughter each other with firearms. Nice to see the Government has its eye on the ball.

[DSMHondaGuy]

Originally Posted by Lemmy

Mandates back up cameras, while allowing citizens to slaughter each other with firearms. Nice to see the Government has its eye on the ball.

Surely you're not serious? You think any government can prevent people from being violent towards one another? Or what that if the government would only take away those icky bad evil firearms everyone would be safer? Let's say they did, how would that make me any safer? Will a police officer instantly pop into existence where and when I need him if I'm attacked or mugged by someone. What if it's not just someone by 5 people? What if it's 2 people but no one is armed, do you think you can't kill someone with your bare hands? Or common objects?

This is completely off topic though, but i'd love to debate this in a different and new thread if you like.


To address the other post above, I'm not against new technology, just tech that seems to have a negative effect on society accepting responsibility for outcomes as well as being distracted by it. For example, come up with a new technology for propulsion that's more efficent and cost effective, hey I'm all for that! But say an autonomous car, hell no.

[Lemmy]

Not entirely serious, no. I use it merely to illustrate the point that with all that's wrong in the country (and mine) they must surely have better things to do if saving lives and reducing casualties is suddenly a priority.

So it looks like you wasted a long post. Sorry.

[DSMHondaGuy]

I can't say I disagree with you there.

[Xist]

That is a complicated issue and I am not sure this is the best forum to discuss it. I certainly would not be able to participate from work.

Everyone says they are good drivers. DSM, you have missed all of my drama. I drove trucks for the Army in Germany and Afghanistan and I have had some crazy girlfriends. Somehow that seems like the majority of my life experiences, but this comes up less and less. One girlfriend insisted she was a good driver. The dent in the hatch of my Forester is a strong argument otherwise. Was the truck in her blind spot?

The fact that she fell off her motorcycle is another indication she was not a good driver.

Was.

I tried to date another woman that rear-ended a truck with her car. Was that truck in her blind spot? She insisted she was a good driver, but there is no excuse for hitting a vehicle twice as large as yours in fair weather.

Let's pretend that 90% of drivers are better than average. No! 99%! It is the 1% that do not check their mirrors and blind spots, that maybe do not even look where they are going because dog selfies are more important. Even if 99% of us drove as safely as possible, as long as we are looking out our back window and not through the bumper, something like seven kids a day will go under the back end of a car.

Back-up cameras are one thing. Do any of these automatic braking technologies look backward?

[DSMHondaGuy]

Maybe some misunderstand, I'm not arguing if the technology is effective or not.

[Xist]

Was it this guy?

Originally Posted by iveyjh

I am against any "Big Brother" mandates, recommended OK.

Were we actually debating them being a big deal or do we have a failure to communicate?