Rant: Why are so many people walking on the WRONG side of the road?

[3930dave]

Anyone doubting the value of a rear facing camera is welcome to drive my wife's 2013 Eascpe which does not have one. It also only has 1/4 of a rear window. Rear visibility is pathetic.

Good example. Old cars often had great greenhouse-like views, including to the rear - guess that worked too well.

For many parts of the USA it may not matter, but I can see one potential problem up here. Take a long drive in certain snow conditions, and the entire rear of the vehicle will be covered in thick snow. I suspect that standard issue rear cameras won't have a Defrost ability, but I'd like to be wrong about that.

Rgds, D.

 

[k0ua]

Good example. Old cars often had great greenhouse-like views, including to the rear - guess that worked too well.

For many parts of the USA it may not matter, but I can see one potential problem up here. Take a long drive in certain snow conditions, and the entire rear of the vehicle will be covered in thick snow. I suspect that standard issue rear cameras won't have a Defrost ability, but I'd like to be wrong about that.

Rgds, D.

Your not wrong about that. At least ours in the 2013 Chrysler does not have any defrost capability. But you can always brush off snow before you get into the vehicle. The camera is somewhat protected as it has some overhang, and points generally down. BUT the type of snow you are speaking of would likely cover it.

 

[Redneck in training]

I rented Buick Lacrosse Hybrid in Alaska few years back. I drove it in some nasty condition but never had issue with the camera. I am guessing not all rear view cameras are created equal.

 

[sixdogs]

When I lived in northern New England, a newbie family that moved in from down south dressed in dark clothes, walked on the wrong side of the road and never wore hunter orange during deer season. They were on welfare so the locals bought the kids brighter coats, got them orange hats and tried to smarten the up on road kill thing.

They never did adapt, left their squatter's camp piled high with trash and garbage and headed back to warmer climes. The orange hats and coats were laying in the dirt. So you can, apparently lead a horse to water.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Good example. Old cars often had great greenhouse-like views, including to the rear - guess that worked too well.

For many parts of the USA it may not matter, but I can see one potential problem up here. Take a long drive in certain snow conditions, and the entire rear of the vehicle will be covered in thick snow. I suspect that standard issue rear cameras won't have a Defrost ability, but I'd like to be wrong about that.

Rgds, D.

My wife has a 2014 Mazda CX-5. Great little car, but the rear visibility, at least directly in back of the vehicle is practically non existent. The back up camera is almost a necessity. Using it gets a little getting used to; it does have it's limitations, as she found out when she tried to use it backing into the garage...only $750 in damage.

On the other hand, it works great, provided you use your mirrors...and it works very well at night, especially in an unlit area. Having said all that, I still much prefer a vehicle with good rear visibility. To me the camera is an after thought/retro fit calculated to compensate for a poor design.

 

[PILOON]

Re visibility;
It is all about ecology, the rear poor visibility is mainly due to the sloped 'streamlined' designs that supposedly lessen drag.
You may have a huge rear window but the effective viewing area is often a mere 6" high, also many windows show lots of glass but often there is a large area of the perimeter that is black. Clear glass is frequently only a mere percentage of what you perceive it to be. Now add that to the huge corner posts and there is not a lot of viewing area.
Naturally the compensate by installing back up cameras, on the upgrade models, along with a backup beeper that works if there is no snow accumulation.

\LOL, last winter I was stopped by a LEO because snow was hiding my tags due to back suction lifting powdery snow onto my bumper and tags.
That was a Jimmy and I could never keep snow off of the rear glass in winter.

 

[oldballs]

How's this..........This morning driving on a divided highway, I saw a guy walking backwards on the wrong side as he tried to shield his electronic gizzmo from the rising sun.

 

[3930dave]

Your not wrong about that. At least ours in the 2013 Chrysler does not have any defrost capability. But you can always brush off snow before you get into the vehicle. The camera is somewhat protected as it has some overhang, and points generally down. BUT the type of snow you are speaking of would likely cover it.

The same people who don't completely brush snow off their windows up here, probably wouldn't bother with the camera either .

I'm not anti-camera per se, just don't want to see another area where people (dangerously) assume blind-faith in yet another tech crutch. Even for someone who pays attention to operating their vehicle, if you take a long drive in the winter time, under certain conditions, it is easy to pile up snow on the back of the vehicle. For that matter, snow and ice on the front too. LED lights on the rear add to the problem, as their lack of heat limits snow-melt.

In a public space, I prefer to back-in, or drive-thru. With modern vehicle design, there will be times in Winter up here where a camera may not show me anything.

I was really impressed with one camera setup I used briefly. I used to shuttle RVs for a buddy who owned a service shop. He had finished working on a 32' class C that was nosed in against the building. He asked me to back it out and take it for a spin. He had a big yard on the front of that shop, with 2 entrances - people tended to pull off the road at relatively high speed. The owners of that 32' had installed a high-end camera on the back - great dash screen, but also are really good high rez wide-angle lens on the camera. With the camera mounted up high on the RV, I could clearly see the entire big yard, both entrances, and a decent portion of the road. Stock Ford truck mirrors on those chassis are good, but with zero visibility on the back of an RV, I really appreciated the performance of that camera.

When I have to back up in a public space, I often throw the 4ways on, and slowly back in. As careful as I try to be, what does scare me is how totally oblivious many people are (even around a large vehicle) when walking, esp. with a screen in their face.

Rgds, D.

 

[aczlan]

When I have to back up in a public space, I often throw the 4ways on, and slowly back in. As careful as I try to be, what does scare me is how totally oblivious many people are (even around a large vehicle) when walking, esp. with a screen in their face.

In the early 2000s, a friend installed a airhorn under the back bumper of his car after he had someone walk into the side of his car and almost get their toes run over (they walked into his trunk as he was backing out).

Aaron Z

 

[bigtiller]

That could have been my old boss. He would stick his hands in his pockets and stare at the floor while walking. He walked into my forklift as I was backing slowly down the isle one day. I was watching him, so i stopped to let him by but he walked right into the back of the forklift.