Taking the Wheel: Have Parking Cameras and Other Tech Improved Fender-Bender Incidents?
For many drivers it’s hard to think back to a time without technology assisted driving apparatuses. Though there are still many vehicles on the road that lack rear-view cameras and sensors, it has now become the norm in the past couple years to equip all vehicles with one iteration of this technology or another.
A lot of this technology has had the added benefit of improving driving conditions, reducing accidents and being a safer more reliable tool. Parking cameras not only add safety to your vehicle, but more importantly the safety of any unknowing pedestrians who may be running around unseen.
Common Sense Help
Multiple studies have shown that rear-view cameras are more effective than traditional ways of driving backwards. For the most part this is true through all vehicles, aside from ones that may have unique back windows and a different structure that can obstruct views. Rear View Safety offers many backup camera solutions for all types of vehicles.
First, without looking at the data it’s almost a common sense idea that camera is less susceptible to accidents than a person turning their head around and trying to look at three different mirrors at once. This multi-tasking can make it harder and there’s always a bit of room for chance accidents to happen. By focusing all your attention or most on a camera limits chance. A camera paired with a beeping detection system, the duo of help aides much more in backing up than traditionally methods using mirrors.
From a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee to any new car on the market, drivers can be assured that the car will come equipped with this technology or have the options to do so.
Most Accident Prone
Nearly 300 people a year are killed and 18,000 injured on an individual basis each year by being backed up into by a car. These types of accidents are most prone to happen in either a driveway or parking lot. Elderly people and young children are the most likely victims.
One such study found multiple reasons that a parking camera can reduce these types of accidents and deaths. Backing up accidents, are increased by incredible blind spots in multiple vehicles and the inability to see behind and under or near the rear bumper. Often times SUVS and trucks are the worst offenders of blind spots and involved in more crashes than other vehicles.
Rear-View Camera Safety
Part of this certain study used mock positions and sizes of a 12 – 15 month-old child and the sizes of a 2 – 3 year-old and a 5-6 year old. The representations were placed at the back of the vehicle. The objects were placed in average around 27 ft. behind the vehicle. Spots that couldn’t be seen with the usual quick glance or mirror check. The study found that blind spots were reduced by 90 percent in each case placed on different vehicles. The larger vehicles performed worse on visibility than most, but wasn’t always the case.
The addition of parking sensors upped the success rate by a few points. But the case proved that this technology saves more lives and risks fewer accidents than without the technology.
Source: Jeep Grand Cherokee
Faith Welch has a background working in the auto insurance industry. Now taking time out of her career to raise her daughter, she still likes to keep up with industry news and contributes to personal finance, auto and tech blogs on the subject.
