NuncoStr8

You need to read some US history and educate yourself. There are no "privileges" in this country. That's kind of what sets the USA apart from *every other nation* on the planet. It's a common error, but it's scary how common that error is among people who think they are "educated."

*All* rights belong to the people, and we only give our government permission to regulate some of those rights in the interest of public safety. We give the government the abilty to license drivers, but our government does not have the right to deny a person a drivers license indefintely, given all the paperwork is filed out properly and they have passed the tests. That is why states that require every licensed car to have car insurance have a risk insurance pool that is tasked with providing insurance to drivers that otherwise would be uninsurable.

If you can't be bothered to turn your head and look behind you while backing up, I certainly don't want you thinking staring at your dash is somehow making me, the pedestrian, safer. I don't even want you behind the wheel because you are stupid and lazy, but I concede your right to drive like a moron.

FearlessFife

Exactly. Absolutely ridiculous that cars will now have an inflated cost because too many people are too ignorant to use a car in a competent fashion. Just in the last week I have nearly been ran off the road three times by people texting and driving. Requiring 'safety' features such as backup cameras on a car doesn't fix the real problem: people don't use common sense.

Elistan

Thing is, some people DIDN'T survive without them. Ie, children have died after being run over by cars backing up when the driver couldn't see them - and not because the drivers weren't looking, but because the children were entirely in the blind spot. (However, I have no idea if having backup cameras will actually reduce the occurrences of such events.)

NNY S2k

Have one on the wife's Si, most of the past 5 months it has been covered with snow and dirt.
Levi

i_heart_my_DB8

Things like this just make me appreciate the S2000 even more. I'm not a huge fan of gov't imposed safety nannies (for many of the reasons listed above), but most of all, maybe I just don't want a car with a damn LCD screen in the dash. I love how minimalist the cockpit of the S2000 is, and how dark it goes at night. I'm trying to imagine an elegant way an LCD screen could be integrated into the dash, but I just can't.

I will say that the previous owner of my DD installed a backup camera, and the only times i DO use it are for maximizing every last inch of a parallel parking approach. If there's ever an opportunity for real danger (backing out of a spot, driveway, etc.) I don't use it. Why? Because I have eyes and a head that turns.

Saki GT

Today, around 200 people are killed in back up accidents annually, 50% under 5 or over 70 years of age. By 2054, this new rule is expected to save about 60 lives a year.

i_heart_my_DB8

Today, around 200 people are killed in back up accidents annually, 50% under 5 or over 70 years of age. By 2054, this new rule is expected to save about 60 lives a year.
[/quote]

I fully expect people to be more stupid in 2054, and don't trust this projection.

Saki GT

I fully expect driverless cars by 2050. The biggest cause of accidents in cars are human drivers, so just remove them from the equation and make them passengers.

FurY

Then I fully expect and hope to be dead since I drive myself and won't have some automated car doing it for me

marthafokker

Backup camera? I loved the Land Rover's camera system. And I saw the new Nissan Pathfinder's camera system too.

It's stupid to mandate it, but I love toys. These are just more toys.