Rearview Cameras on Most Cars Could Become Standard Equipment

Dec. 3, 2010 — -- The government proposed new rules today aimed at the rising concern about drivers unintentionally backing over children.

The Department of Transportation is offering new requirements to improve rear visibility in cars by the 2014 model year. Most carmakers would meet the requirements by installing rear-mounted video cameras and in-vehicle displays.

At least two children are killed every week when a car backs over them, and most of the time it's a family member behind the wheel.

In 2002, Dr. Greg Gulbransen, a Long Island pediatrician, accidentally ran over and killed his 2-year-old son Cameron.

"I rode right over him. I never saw him ... never had a chance of seeing him," he said.

The proposal announced today would improve rear visibility in cars and could help prevent tragedies, like the Gulbransens' story, from occurring.

The recommendation is mandated by the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007. Signed into law by President George W. Bush, it directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue a standard for improving the ability of drivers to detect pedestrians in the area immediately behind their vehicles, and minimize the likelihood of a vehicle striking a pedestrian while reversing.

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"Everybody needs to understand that we cannot keep backing blind," Janette Fennell, the founder and president of Kids And Cars, a Kansas-based safety group, said. "Something needs to be done. This is not a small problem."

Most carmakers would comply with the new requirements by installing rear-mounted video cameras and in-car displays, systems that are currently found in several high-end models of vehicles. Only about 20 percent of 2010 vehicles have the cameras onboard.

"Any vehicle can be retrofitted with a camera and sensors, it doesn't matter what make or model. This technology is available," Fennell said.

According to Kids and Cars, 50 children are backed over every week in the United States and 48 of those children end up in hospital emergency rooms. Over 70 percent of the time, it is a direct family member who is responsible.