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Poor rear visibility in vehicles can lead to tragedy if an unseen child is accidentally backed over. Over 200 children are killed this way every year. Backover is especially a problem with larger vehicles such as SUVs and pickups, which have large blind spots to the rear of the vehicles. NHTSA is required by SAFETEA-LU to study backover avoidance technology, such as rear-facing cameras, that could reduce these unnecessary fatalities. Although technology to meet this need is currently expensive, manufacturers would have an incentive to innovate and drive down the cost if NHTSA set backover avoidance standards. A 2004 NHTSA report responding to requests from consumer advocates and members of Congress examines child backover deaths, which the agency has largely neglected in traffic safety analyses. You can view the report here.
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