Backup cameras are more effective in preventing backover incidents than simple parking sensors (that beep when they detect an object, but don’t actually show a view of the object), a new study found.
The cameras are better at helping drivers avoid pedestrians who may be in the car’s blind spot behind it, and the cameras also work better than sensors and cameras combined, the study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found. The group advocates for car makers to build safer cars.
Backup cameras reduced the blind zone by about 90 percent on average and it reduced crashes by close to 50 percent. In the study, volunteers drove a 2013 Chevy Equinox and a child-sized dummy was secretly placed behind it. The drivers hit the dummy 100 percent of the time when no camera or sensor was used. With the backup camera, 56 percent hit the dummy. With a sensor, just 1 out of 16 drivers avoided a crash.
Sensors use ultrasonic sound waves or radar to detect objects around the car.
Interestingly, when drivers used both a camera and a sensor, 75 percent hit the dummy. The IIHS concluded, “It may be that the sensors… gave drivers a false sense of security, so they paid less attention to the camera display.” But the sensors only which detect objects up to 8 feet behind the vehicle at speeds less than 5 mph. The IIHS concluded the sensors might be more useful if they had a bigger range and gave an earlier warning signal.
Still, the rear view cameras did not prevent a crash almost half the time. When the dummy was in the shade, almost every driver still hit it, even though they looked at the display. Poor weather conditions might also impact the view of an object, said the IIHS.
Source: IIHS via The Detroit News
You mention that using both was worse than a camera alone, so what was the result when both sensors and a camera were used???
My bad. When I refreshed the balance of the article appeared. The first time it stopped after “Sensors use ultrasonic sound waves or radar to detect objects around the car.” Sorry.