DOT faces lawsuit over delayed backup camera rules

Years of foot-dragging over rear visibility standards has landed the United States Department of Transportation at the center of a new lawsuit.

Federal regulators were given the all clear to formulate new rear visibility rules in 2007 – which could include mandatory backup cameras – but have so far punted the decision to put anything into law. Fed up with the government’s slow progress, two individuals along with four organizations filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York on Wednesday that aims to press the issue.

“When Congress ordered this rule issued in three years, they meant three years, not seven,” Scott Michelman, an attorney for Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, told Automotive News.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has set several deadlines to formulate backup rules, but has whiffed on every one. The agency’s last self-imposed deadline passed in December of 2012.

The NHTSA has never given a formal explanation for its lack of movement on the issue, but added costs are believed to be a driving factor. It’s estimated that making backup cameras a requirement would add between $58 to $203 to the cost of a vehicle, which comes out to roughly $18 million per life saved.

Despite the government’s refusal to act on the issue, backup cameras are becoming more prevalent in the industry. According to Edmunds.com, 77 percent of all 2013 vehicles sold in the United States can be equipped with a backup camera, compared to 32 percent of 2008 model year vehicles.

Honda will become the first mainstream automaker to offer backup cameras as standard equipment across its entire range when its new Fit debuts next year. 

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