U.S. to Require Rear-View Video on Cars

The Obama administration moved Friday to effectively require all passenger cars and buses to be equipped with rear-view video cameras to help prevent fatalities caused when drivers back over a child hidden in the blind spot behind a vehicle.

The technology, already offered in some models in the U.S., involves a small camera attached to the back of a car that sends a live video feed to a display mounted in the dashboard or rear-view mirror. It is designed to give drivers a broader view as they back out of a parking spot or driveway.

Regulators say they are trying to prevent incidents such as a 2002 crash that killed two-year-old Cameron Gulbransen of New York when his father backed up his car and accidentally drove over the boy in the family driveway. Congress passed legislation in 2008 named after the boy to require the administration to draft new rules on rear-view visibility.

The Transportation Department proposal, which would begin to affect new cars built after September 2012, would expand the required field of view for all cars, pickup trucks, minivans and buses. Regulators said they believe car makers will install rear-mounted video cameras to meet the requirements.

Such technology currently boosts the price of a car by as much as $200. But administration officials said the added cost is justified because the technology could potentially halve the number of deaths and injuries each year attributed to "back over" crashes, currently at about 207 and 15,446, respectively. Such crashes disproportionately affect children and elderly people.

"There is no more tragic accident than for a parent or caregiver to back out of a garage or driveway and kill or injure an undetected child playing behind the vehicle," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement announcing the new rules.

Car makers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Ford Motor Co. have already begun offering the technology in some models. Ford said Friday that nearly all models under the Ford and Lincoln brands would offer the technology by the end of next year.

The rule could cost the auto industry between $1.9 billion and $2.7 billion a year, according to regulators' estimates, unless auto makers can pass along the expense to consumers. But the industry is reluctant to vigorously oppose a proposal to prevent deadly accidents involving children.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the industry's main trade group, said it was reviewing the proposed rules. "Given that our top priority is keeping people—especially children—safe in and around autos, the Alliance looks forward to working with regulators to ensure that, in the end, we have enhancements that saves lives and improves safety," read a statement by the group, whose members include General Motors Co., Ford, Chrysler Group LLC and Toyota.

The rules would be phased in starting in 2012 and would apply to all cars manufactured after Sept. 1, 2014.