Preventing “Blind Spots” When Reversing

Kidsandcars.org reports that each week, over 50 children are injured or killed in back-up accidents involving drivers who did not notice the child in rear view mirrors. A contributing factor in many accidents is that larger, popular vehicles such as SUVs, mini-vans and light trucks have a larger “blind spot” area than passenger vehicles (between 35 and 60 feet in some vehicles). A “blind spot” is the area on the road that cannot be seen by looking forward or through either the rear-view or side mirrors. This can momentarily hide another vehicle or person and contribute to the occurrence of an accident.

• Back-up or Rear-view camera systems – with the rise in popularity of in-dash DVD players and GPS navigation systems (with a color LCD display) to the dashboard console, back-up camera systems have become much more common and available as optional factory accessories on standard passenger trucks and sport utility vehicles, as well as aftermarket accessories. Inside the vehicle, the display is wired to automatically sense when the transmission is set in reverse, showing the backup view while in reverse, and showing the map (or other content) at all other times.
• Back-up warning systems are wired to the vehicle’s reverse lighting systems and will alert drivers to the possible dangers when backing up. Using microwave radar technology to detect obstacles behind a vehicle, drivers are alerted by an audible sound and visual warning with LED lights mounted on the driver side of the dashboard console.
• “Fish Eye” mirror or “Aspheric” mirrors are adhesively mounted to existing rear and side-view mirrors and allow blind spots to be virtually eliminated while minimizing distortion by enlarging the field of view by 1.4 to 1.7 times.