A couple of weeks ago, my dd’s softball team had a fundraising car wash at a local car dealer. My SUV had already been through the line and we were winding down, so my dh had me go get his SUV from the parking lot to run through the wash tunnel. I got into the driver’s seat, did a quick adjust of the seat and rear-view mirror (he is 6’5” and I am not), started the ignition, began to back out and froze. I couldn’t remember how to do it!
I mean, of course, I back out all the time. But I have a backup camera to assist me and in his SUV, I don’t. His SUV is a 2004, before backup cameras were commonplace in vehicles; in fact, I think at that point in time, it was a nearly $1500 add-on. I looked in the rear-view mirror, looked in the side mirrors, turned and looked out the back windows, and yet still felt like I was missing huge chunks of visibility. Even though I knew no one was behind me—it was a deserted parking lot since the dealership was closed and I was the only one there at the time—I still felt like I could hit someone or something. It scared me. Anyway, I did make it safely to the wash line and handed the keys back to dh. He can have his SUV. But not for long. Soon his backup screen will be even bigger than mine or yours ;).
I know that my seat belt and airbags are an important safety feature, of course, as are the steel reinforcement bars in the door, etc., etc., etc., but for driving on a daily basis, I cannot drive without my backup camera. I’m too dependent on it. Is there a feature in your car that you’ve come to rely upon heavily?
My favorite safety feature has to be bluetooth. Not because I can talk hands-free, but because it disables my text/email/whatever notifications while I’m in the car, so it removes all temptation to even look at or pick up the phone.
I agree with Jennie. Definitely love/hate relationship. Personally, I find that I’m much more cautious when I DON’T use the camera. Just like airbags are supplemental to seatbelts, cameras are supplemental to mirrors and I tend to skip mirrors sometimes. I absolutely hate admitting this because I pride myself on my driver-awareness, but in 17 years of driving, I have only ever “almost” hit a pedestrian while using the back-up camera. :-/
I have a love-hate relationship with my backup cam. I mean, it’s invaluable being able to see behind me. But I often find myself inadvertently using it INSTEAD of the mirror rather than in addition to…and the mirror really does give a wider field of vision. The backup camera is a nice supplement but shouldn’t be a substitute. Pretty much I just hate backing up.
I like the blind spot warning lamps and cross traffic warning alerts in newer vehicles. They’ve saved me a few times in SUVs with big blind spots. Recently, the cross traffic alert warned me in a parking lot of someone approaching quickly with a shopping cart, something I didn’t see on the camera!
But even though it may not be a proven benefit yet, I find hands-free bluetooth with steering wheel controls to be my favorite safety feature. I don’t text while driving, but I know I’ve taken my eyes off the road just to dial a number in the past and sometimes still do in my wife’s car. Even fiddling with a cellphone’s keypad or speakerphone is a distraction I no longer have with bluetooth. I’ll be adding this aftermarket to our Prius soon, as our kids start driving in the next couple years…
Yes! I’ll never give up having a rear view camera. Dh was parallel parking the other day and said something like, “I’ve gotten really good at this…” yeah, me too. That little camera makes all the difference. I do enjoy my in dash Nav., but could live without it. I could really go for some blind spot monitors, though.
Oooh, I can’t wait to hear about his next car… 😀
Yeah, I’m getting a little tired of backing out of my driveway blind…and everyone else backing up blind who might back into ME!