Updating grandma's car for a college student

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For all you old-timers who think he doesn't need a backup camera and can just turn his head, aren't paying attention to the safety information.

I'm 56 (yes, I'm also one of those old-timers), have been driving since I was 17 and the first backup camera I had in a car I owned was my current 2019 vehicle (I have had them before in rentals). Yes, I am fully capable of turning my head around to look and have done so for 2/3 of my life, but when you are dealing with vehicles like the RAV4 that are higher off the ground, there is more that is below the window that you cannot see.

I actually had a situation a few months ago that could have been disastrous. In a parking lot and was backing out. I looked both ways and started to ease out of the space. The building was to my right. There was a car in the space two over to my left (one additional car between mine and theirs). A child got out of the car and before her mother could stop her, turned to run down the parking lane to the building. She ran behind my car and she was NOT visible below the window of my SUV (she was probably 9-12 inches shorter than the bottom of the window). Without the camera, I would have hit her. This is not unusual. The backup camera has helped decrease the number of driveway and parking lot accidents, especially related to children and pets that are small and have no sense of caution around cars.

Just because he can turn his head does not mean that adding a backup camera will not increase vehicle safety.

You were going so very slow I doubt you would have hurt her if you did hit her.

I've been driving a truck for the last 11 years. I still think that a backup camera is not necessary. And when I'm hauling my horses, I don't have one so it's good to be able to have some experience backing a regular vehicle before you have to learn how to back something that's actually a bit difficult (as a gooseneck swings the opposite way from your turn)

I actually think the MORE important of the two for safety is the bluetooth. I deal a lot with insurance companies and they spend the vast majority of their education budget trying to get people not to mess with their phones while driving. You may think your teenager won't touch his phone, but it is HIGHLY unlikely he won't when you are not there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
You were going so very slow I doubt you would have hurt her if you did hit her.

Knocking the kid over might not have hurt her. Running over her after she fell, on the other hand...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all you old-timers who think he doesn't need a backup camera and can just turn his head, aren't paying attention to the safety information.

I'm 56 (yes, I'm also one of those old-timers), have been driving since I was 17 and the first backup camera I had in a car I owned was my current 2019 vehicle (I have had them before in rentals). Yes, I am fully capable of turning my head around to look and have done so for 2/3 of my life, but when you are dealing with vehicles like the RAV4 that are higher off the ground, there is more that is below the window that you cannot see.

I actually had a situation a few months ago that could have been disastrous. In a parking lot and was backing out. I looked both ways and started to ease out of the space. The building was to my right. There was a car in the space two over to my left (one additional car between mine and theirs). A child got out of the car and before her mother could stop her, turned to run down the parking lane to the building. She ran behind my car and she was NOT visible below the window of my SUV (she was probably 9-12 inches shorter than the bottom of the window). Without the camera, I would have hit her. This is not unusual. The backup camera has helped decrease the number of driveway and parking lot accidents, especially related to children and pets that are small and have no sense of caution around cars.

Just because he can turn his head does not mean that adding a backup camera will not increase vehicle safety.

You were going so very slow I doubt you would have hurt her if you did hit her.

I've been driving a truck for the last 11 years. I still think that a backup camera is not necessary. And when I'm hauling my horses, I don't have one so it's good to be able to have some experience backing a regular vehicle before you have to learn how to back something that's actually a bit difficult (as a gooseneck swings the opposite way from your turn)

I actually think the MORE important of the two for safety is the bluetooth. I deal a lot with insurance companies and they spend the vast majority of their education budget trying to get people not to mess with their phones while driving. You may think your teenager won't touch his phone, but it is HIGHLY unlikely he won't when you are not there.

When your argument starts with this, you’ve lost me. I mean, WHAT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For all you old-timers who think he doesn't need a backup camera and can just turn his head, aren't paying attention to the safety information.

I'm 56 (yes, I'm also one of those old-timers), have been driving since I was 17 and the first backup camera I had in a car I owned was my current 2019 vehicle (I have had them before in rentals). Yes, I am fully capable of turning my head around to look and have done so for 2/3 of my life, but when you are dealing with vehicles like the RAV4 that are higher off the ground, there is more that is below the window that you cannot see.

I actually had a situation a few months ago that could have been disastrous. In a parking lot and was backing out. I looked both ways and started to ease out of the space. The building was to my right. There was a car in the space two over to my left (one additional car between mine and theirs). A child got out of the car and before her mother could stop her, turned to run down the parking lane to the building. She ran behind my car and she was NOT visible below the window of my SUV (she was probably 9-12 inches shorter than the bottom of the window). Without the camera, I would have hit her. This is not unusual. The backup camera has helped decrease the number of driveway and parking lot accidents, especially related to children and pets that are small and have no sense of caution around cars.

Just because he can turn his head does not mean that adding a backup camera will not increase vehicle safety.

You were going so very slow I doubt you would have hurt her if you did hit her.

I've been driving a truck for the last 11 years. I still think that a backup camera is not necessary. And when I'm hauling my horses, I don't have one so it's good to be able to have some experience backing a regular vehicle before you have to learn how to back something that's actually a bit difficult (as a gooseneck swings the opposite way from your turn)

I actually think the MORE important of the two for safety is the bluetooth. I deal a lot with insurance companies and they spend the vast majority of their education budget trying to get people not to mess with their phones while driving. You may think your teenager won't touch his phone, but it is HIGHLY unlikely he won't when you are not there.

I'm the PP you are responding to. The statistics don't back you up. In the US, approximately 50 children are hit by reversing vehicles every week. 48 are treated at the emergency room/hospital and 2 die. The majority of these incidents happen in driveways and parking lots, so exactly the type of incident I was involved in. In 2015, NHTSA reported 284 fatalities and 12,000 injuries occurred to backovers.

http://www.kidsandcars.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Backover-fact-sheet-FINAL.pdf

Additionally, you are an older experienced driver. You are likely to be more careful than a teen getting his first car. Adding in additional safety features to a vehicle before giving it to a young teenage driver is a huge bonus.