American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced plans to add rearview video systems to its list of recommended features under its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP).
NHTSA has taken this decision to prevent backover accidents that leads to future deaths and injuries, especially those involving small children.
NCAP program, through NHTSA's Recommended Advanced Technology Features (RATF), enables consumers to know the vehicle makes and models that are equipped hat can help drivers avoid crashes and reduce other safety risks.
The agency will introduce rearview video systems into the NCAP program in two phases.
In the first phase, the agency will begin to identify on www.safercar.gov vehicle models that have rearview video systems starting 24 September 2013.
During the second phase, it will verify the vehicle model for a rearview video system meeting certain basic criteria and will recognize those vehicle models as having RATF on www.safercar.gov.
The video system should cover 20ft by 10ft zone directly behind the vehicle; should be displayed within two seconds after the reverse direction is selected; and should be large enough to show objects in the image and avoid a crash with those objects.
US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said: "As we've seen with other features in the past, adding rearview video systems to our list of recommended safety features will encourage both automakers and consumers to consider more vehicles that offer this important technology."
NHTSA noted that rearview video systems will replace Electronic Stability Control as a Recommended Advanced Technology Feature on www.safercar.gov, as the latter technology is now standard on all new vehicles. Forward collision warning (FCW) and lane departure warning (LDW) systems will continue to be featured on the site.
