MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Most late-model vehicles have rear-view cameras, if not a standard then as an add-on feature. When you back up, they show what your natural eye might miss.
“I love mine. I use it all the time. In fact, I don’t really know what I would do without one,” Emily Ford of Bartlett said.
“I like to look in my rear-view mirror and in my side mirror. So it’s kind of a distraction for me actually, but a lot of people told me they like it. I think my wife likes it,” John Edwards of Lakeland said.
Many drivers like that added layer of safety, telling them when an object or, even more importantly, a person is close by.
AAA is sending out a warning about those rear cameras: They aren’t as reliable as you might think.
“What we are telling people is don’t rely on that technology,” Cheryl Keating with the AAA Office in Memphis said. “You have to use your eyes, your ears and pay attention. Turn around, whatever you need to do to make sure there is no one around you.”
AAA tested rear cameras and found significant limitations when parked between larger vehicles like SUVs.
The cameras failed to detect a passing motorcycle nearly half the time, a bicycle two in five times and a passing vehicle three in 10 times. They even failed to detect pedestrians the majority of the time, 60 percent.
“It’s just different systems. There are different ranges and different types of systems. So it’s just not detecting it,” Keating said. “A lot of it is where you are parked and how you are parked. Some of the systems don’t detect if you are parked at an angle, only if you are parked straight.”
AAA advised drivers to pay attention, look for objects the sensors can’t detect and know your system’s limitations.
“You still have to use common sense,” Ford said. “I think the human mind is more capable than a computer and rear-view cameras, I hope we are not relying on them too much.”
AAA said no camera system shows 100 percent of the space behind a vehicle, and visibility can be impeded by rain, snow or slush.
By the way, rear cameras are expected to be required on all new vehicles by 2018.
