Backup Cameras Requirement Pushed Back to 2015

Backup Camera

A new federal regulation that would require backup cameras in all vehicles has been pushed all the way back to 2015. They say this will give regulators time to consider adding safety ratings incentives for the cameras and for other types of safety-enhancing technologies.

The U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, made the announcement in a letter he sent to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller. He said in this letter that more analysis of the rule’s cost is also needed before issuing any kind of mandate.

The cost of the cameras versus their usefulness is a large part of the issue. Previously, the agency had estimated that the cost of the backup cameras would run somewhere around $2.7 billion or roughly $18 million for every life it could potentially save.

Automakers have been balking at the cost, insisting it will be higher than estimated and that the backup cameras only make sense in larger vehicles. The mandate as it currently stands would make them required on every vehicle, regardless of size.

As far as consumers are concerned, the costs for this safety feature aren’t nearly so daunting. In vehicles that already have a dashboard display screen, the additional cost for the camera would be $58 to $88 per vehicle. The cost goes up to $159-$203 for vehicles that would now need display screens added.

The rule for backup cameras first came into being through a 2008 auto-safety law named for a boy who died after his father accidentally backed over him. The rule was passed with bipartisan support and signed into law by President George W. Bush.

This latest delay is just one more in a long line that continues to push back this potentially life-saving feature. Despite the lack of a law requiring the backup cameras, manufacturers are making them available in more and more of their vehicles.

In 2012, backup cameras came as a standard feature on 44% of vehicles and were available as on option on another 27%. Government regulation or not, backup cameras are becoming increasingly common in new cars.

Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.