NHTSA revisiting backup camera rules

Backup cameras may become mandatory on new cars as soon as next January, according to a plan submitted to the White House by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Christmas day.

Although there are few details about the NHTSA proposal, which was first reported by Automotive News, it is believed that a regulation will be put into place by the end of January 2015.

Nearly two years ago, the federal government decided to table any new rules about backup cameras to, as former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, “make sure we have a good rule.”

Debate over backup cameras dates back to the second Bush administration’s 2008 Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act, which requires “additional mirrors, sensors, cameras or other technology to expand the driver’s field of view.”

In order to comply with fuel economy and roof strength standards, automakers have been forced to raise trunk lid heights and increase the size of roof pillars, typically to the detriment of rear visibility.

Predicting that backup cameras would become a requirement eventually, automakers have rolled them out as optional or standard equipment on virtually every new car offered.