Auto manufactures will be required to install the rear-view cameras in all new vehicles in 2014.  The federal government has announced this plan on Friday and has received strong support from insurance companies as well as the other analysts and in all likelihood will be able to garner support from auto manufacturers as well.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was quoted as saying that there could not be anything more tragic for a parent or a caregiver to accidently injure or kill a child who is playing behind the motor vehicle.  These incidents occur while backing out a vehicle from the garage or a driveway as these are blind zones behind the vehicle.  With the installation of the rear-view cameras, the drivers will be able to see if they can safely back up a vehicle.

As per the estimates by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration there is an average of 292 fatalities as well as 18,000 injuries that occur each year due to back-over crashes.  The most common victims were the children and the elderly.  Around 44% of these fatalities were children and 33% were senior citizens.

The NHTSA stated that this proposal will not only bring down these incidents but also running over pedestrians and bumping into vehicles and barricades in parking lots.  With the installation of the camera, motorists will be able to clearly view all that is going on behind them through the video display on their dashboards.  An alarm or a bell would go off if there is anything within that field of view of the camera.  This would enable in alerting the driver and thereby avoid such instances.

These features are usually expensive to install but the price is likely to come down.  With all the technological advances, there should be no room for errors such as these as they are really tragic incidents and should be avoided when there are systems in place already.

Auto manufacturers will endorse some aspects of this proposal for sure, stated Gloria Bergquist, Vice President, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.  Protecting children and the elderly was their prime concern and they would decide on the options that they would want to support, she said.

A copy of this proposal has been sent to the engineering staff that belongs to the manufacturer’s alliance and they have already started reviewing it.  The public will have 60 days to make their comments.