Having driven a few cars with backup cameras, I’ll say this: They’re not going to help you to the sides or corners. Most of these cameras have a sixty to eighty degree field of view that’s heavily distorted. You really need a hundred and twenty degrees or more to replace your mirrors. Now, if we could rotate the…

“...but now there’s at least one thing you won’t have to pay extra for anymore...”

And this is where I like to remind everyone of the law of unintended consequences. The law was put in place in order to reduce the number of backup-related casualties that were taking place. That increase was driven by the reduced visibility that came about from higher beltlines. The higher beltlines came…

I can’t edit my original comment but I want to add this.

They have this new invention called “glass”. It’s amazing stuff, you can see through it. They use it to make these things called “windows”. And you can put these “window” things in places you want to be able to see. And it doesn’t even require electricity to power it.

Brian France screwed NASCAR with gimics, and now that its on a downturn, he is trying to unload it. Good thing his grandfather and father are dead, because they would kick him out of the family for what he has done.

What idiot made this decision. This is only going to give people even less of a reason to pay attention when they back up and will inevitably only stare at the screen. These oblivious people wont realize that they still need to check outside the view of the camera for pedestrians and cars.

Agreed - but most don’t use it as an additional tool, they rely blindly (pun intended) upon it. Adding safety features is almost always a good idea, but sometimes, it’s too much. If you have to have your car automatically brake and let you know when you are changing lanes, you probably shouldn’t be driving.

now there’s at least one thing you won’t have to pay extra for anymore: A backup camera.

This also means that some form of display/touchscreen will be standard in all new cars as well.

All hail rule by bureaucracy! Instead of writing a law requiring automakers build cars that the driver can see out of the back of, they mandate equipment that may, or may not, be a complete waste of money.

Still plenty of current model low end cars that do not have screens. Are there were. So now all the cars have to have an LCD upgrade and a camera. This is not a trivial increase. And whatever it costs them will cost us 10x as much.

$0 if you just leave it broken. Otherwise it’s going to vary widely depending on what other component it’s integrated into.

“It’s true that driver safety tech in new cars is largely very expensive, but now there’s at least one thing you won’t have to pay extra for anymore: A backup camera.”

This’ll probably lead to more misinformation: you don’t have to look behind you anymore. Just use the camera.

And yet EVERY damned dealer you talk to will act like

Exactly. There’s no break since it became standard equipment, you get to pay for it in the base price instead of a luxury package.

but now there’s at least one thing you won’t have to pay extra for anymore that will now be included in the total price:

We’re still paying extra for it. It’s just included in the base price of the vehicle now.

Looking at the past through the eyes of the present frequently distorts the view.