When did NHTSA start investigating vehicle options? I know an argument can be made that it's a safety issue but isn't the camera supposed to be secondary to mirrors and a flexible neck? (oh, and a reasonable reverse speed). If NHTSA is so concerned with safety, why aren't they investigating the brains of some of the drivers we find on the road.
In many cases, they are unable to find a brain to examine...
The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) mandated that all new vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds and built on or after May 1 2018 must have a backup camera.
I guess it's because I drove for 40 or 50 years without a backup camera that if I know I'm reversing, I look before entering the vehicle. As for your question, I suppose a dog or a little person would have to be 3-4 feet. As for a cat, I don't care.
I have a question for you @James K
Using your mirrors and "flexible neck".
How far behind your Maverick would a child, small person or animal have to be, in order to be seen in your mirrors?
I did not know that. Okay, they would have to investigate but I still think bureaucracies are screwing up human development by making us all dumber.
Thank you for the very long and descriptive non-answer, to my simple question.
It's required equipment under Federal Regulations just like the mirrors.
There was an applicable case on the news in Phoenix this month.
I have a question for you @James K
Using your mirrors and "flexible neck" alone.
How far behind your Maverick would a child, small person or animal have to be, in order to be seen in your mirrors?
I totally agree with you. As a matter of fact here's how big the blind spot is as highlighted by @icegradner
If I didn't have a camera on the back of the "Tilton Hilton" I wouldn't be able to see a thing for the next mile behind it.
You might if your grandchild was holding it....
First, as another post indicated, I was wrong about NHTSA investigating backup cameras. Second is that my post comments on how we're relegating common sense to the government. You're arguing for it and you're not without substance: estimates are 60-70 lives saved per year. My argument is at what cost (both monetary and freedoms).I'm 71 years old. I've driven for probably as long as you have if not longer. Growing up on a farm in the midwest I started much younger driving farm implements. Due to the fact that 50 Children a week are backed over by drivers mandated backup cameras were the first step on the 2026 Maverick I understand that there is a backup braking system. The agency's cannot mandate brains into people, so they mandate the equipment.
There is a huge blind spot behind a Maverick without the benefit of the camera.
This is all you can see at 25 FEET out of your rear view mirror or side mirrors of an average four or five year old child is 37" to 42" the blowup is 42".
Everything to do with a low roof line and the inability to mount the rearview mirror any higher up inside the cab.
It started with Lawn Jarts and Clackers. Now people play pickleball and cornhole.
Current vehicles have much poorer rear visibility than they used to. They all sit higher, with a higher deck. It is much more difficult to see anything down low behind your vehicle than it used to be. The cameras are essential.
