Several years ago I was looking at cars in Dallas and stoped by a VW dealership LATE AT NIGHT to test drive a Tourig (?). Leaving the lot with a female sales person we returned a half hour latter to find the main luminaries turned off. Being the last car to return and she being timid about returning the vehicle to its rather tight slot I left her out and proceeded to the space, pulled forward turing to allign with the space. As I put the vehicle in reverse the VERY BRITE BACKUP LIGHTS CAME ON ...AS DID THE GPS SCREEN.... COMPLETE WITH A BEAUTIFUL COLOR PICTURE OF THE SPACE TO MY REAR!
I...WAS SO IMPRESSED I GOT ONE IN MY NEXT CAR!If you have kids or GRAND KIDS this is the BEST NEW SAFETY DEVICE YET!
Nancy, your point about driver distraction is an excellent one. I also hear your point about over-regulation. One thing I wondered as I was writing this story was whether NHTSA could say, "Automakers don't need to put backup cameras in every vehicle, but vehicles that don't have them will be limited in terms of the number of distractions -- i.e., MP3 players, iPod connections, CD players, video, Internet, etc -- that they will be allowed to have." Back-up cameras might or might not help eliminate accidents, but at least the goal is safety. Infotainment, on the other hand, does not promote safety in any way that I'm aware of.
I have to agree with Beth on this one. I still see people depending on their mirrors rather than checking their blind spot for themselves when changing lanes– a critical error where an accident is often avoided because the driver in the next lane is vigilant and can get out of the way in time without hitting another car. I think the cameras are a great idea if used as another tool towards safety but again – it depends on the operator to actually use it. I am a mom so of course the premise of added safety for our children is near and dear to my heart, but as Beth points out, the temptation for such gadgets may be over reliance on them. While I am against over regulation – I would like to see practical laws that strike at the heart of irresponsible driving – for example, it should be a punishable offense to text while driving. How many kids have been run over due to driver distraction?
There's not a question about whether this technology is both impressive and valuable. The political football and question is the implementation of the rule that could require all new vehicles to incorporate backup cameras. Would be interesting to see how many people would choose to pay to buy the option and what it might add to the retail cost of the vehicle. Good story.
Good point, Chuck, on the camera's ability to see what the human eye can't see. Some delivery truck companies and service companies have a rule to place those little cones around their parked vehicles to eliminate the exact problem the cameras address. So I think this is a great development.
You're right, Beth, there's no replacement for diligence on the part of the driver. That said, this technology does perform one function that goes beyond ordinary diligence. Toddlers, who may be as small as 30", simply cannot be seen behind most cars. There's a phenomenon that's almost painful to discuss -- the so-called "bye-bye syndrome," in which the toddler runs out behind a car to wave goodbye to a parent and is backed over. If the toddler is directly behind the car, he or she can't be seen by anything other than a back-up camera. Toddlers are shorter than the normal trunklid or rear liftgate, but the back-up camera does "see" them. It's one thing that the camera can do that none of us can, no matter how hard we try.
The scariest thing, I think, is people being lulled into a false sense of security of trusting the camera and not taken the manual steps (looking back) to ensure top safety, especially when you're in a crowded area or in a place where there might be children or pets at bay. Also, the resolution isn't the best on these cameras--things can seem murky or farther away or closer than they actually are. Finally, all you need is to have is some snow or road dirt stuck to the lens and you have less visibility than the manual peering over the shoulder. I don't like being a naysayer to technical advances and I am all for cameras as options, but I don't see this in the same vein as an airbag or some of the other safety features that have been government mandated as standard safety features in cars.
Beth: You're not alone in your distrust of the camera. There's still some debate over the viewing angle of the camera, partly because some people say it doesn't provide a wide enough view. Proponents want a 180-degree viewing angle but some engineers say that resultion is lost at the broader angle and are pushing for 130 degrees. I don't have back-up cameras on either of my cars, but have used many rental cars with the feature. With the rentals -- maybe because the experience is so different than what I'm accustomed to -- I, too, find myself peering back over my shoulder. Sometimes, I will glance back and forth at the display, but I have to admit I don't fully trust it yet.
I'm all for anything that improves the safety of our kids, but I have to say mandating auto makers to include a back-up camera on every vehicle--that seems like a stretch. I have a back-up camera on my vehicle and I rarely use it. Maybe it's a female thing (I've asked friends so I'm not being sexist) or maybe it's just a me thing, but I don't trust the camera and spatially, it doesn't help me back up any better. I still turn around and do the traditional peering over the shoulder when backing out of a spot or a driveway.
My husband and son make fun of me, but let me ask you this. Is it better to plow out of a driveway without looking because I have my back-up camera in range or is it better to take the time to look carefully while backing out. I do this every day so I don't hit the gaggle of dogs typically hanging out in my driveway.
Andrew Morris designed a circuit that could detect a stroke victim's groan and convert the sound into a signal so caregivers would know when help was needed.
New disc magnet motors fit into the design trend of stepping up to closed loop performance while maintaining the cost advantage of stepper motor technology.
At the Design News webinar on June 27, learn all about aluminum extrusion: designing the right shape so it costs the least, is simplest to manufacture, and best fits the application's structural requirements.
On April 21, NASA launched a novel project, putting into orbit three satellites that employ an off-the-shelf commercial smartphone as the control system.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
0 
