We have an update for you in regards to a story we posted yesterday about the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s decision to recommend the adoption of rearview cameras in all new vehicles. This decision stopped short of actually coming out with a rule mandating that same safety technology. The story hinted that a lawsuit would be filed in order to force them to reconsider their position, and now that has indeed come to pass.
The issue is explored further in a new report from USA Today. The lawsuit filed against the Department of Transportation accuses the administration of not acting swiftly enough to mandate rearview camera installation on new vehicles, a rule that was supposed to roll out in 2011. That deadline came and went, and now the DOT says they don’t expect to have a regulation ready until at least 2015.
The safety advocacy groups behind the lawsuit point to the lives that could be saved with such a ruling, especially in light of the fact that many automobiles are being produced with less and less visibility in the rear. Consumers now seem to have a preference for higher-sitting automobiles that limit rear visibility, and automakers have also altered vehicle bodies in order to provide better protection during rollover crashes.
A representative of Kelley Blue Book notes that consumers are increasingly expecting rearview cameras on vehicles as a standard feature.