(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

OT: More govt regs - backup cameras

J

JML755

Well-known Member
Just heard on the news this AM that the govt is mandating that ALL cars/trucks have backup cameras within 4 yrs, IIRC. Story was about how this was a windfall for suppliers that make them. They talked about the billions this will cost car companies but you and I both know that this cost will be passed on to us as consumers when we buy a vehicle.

My daughter has one in her Jeep and I've driven it numerous times and find it to be useless/distracting. It is NO substitute for looking around when backing out of your driveway or parking. Plus, how much will it cost to get these things fixed? Will the govt MANDATE that you have a working unit in your vehicle? I.e. will the car not start if it's not operative?

All the electronic gizmos are fine and dandy for those that want them. But this is just another example of some bureaucrat in DC deciding what's best for you and me without a care for whether a) we want it b) we can afford it c) it does any good for the cost invested.

On a similar topic, I was amazed when I learned my 8 yr old nephew STILL has to ride in a car seat. All due to govt regulations.

I've voiced my concerns to my govt representatives about stuff like this and I might as well be talking to my tractor. Actually, my tractor probably has more sense than most of them. :lol:
 
And they won't be able to use incadecent lights to iluminate the cameras I'm sure.....

Active braking is also being required, which if you live in deep snow areas is _not_ all it's cracked up to be - the car goes into a 'limp' mode where you cannot gun it through the deep banks, which is just not at all useful.

Bought a car a couple years ago, & when they were promoting extended warrenty they mentioned replacing a driver's seat costs $4000 because of all the air bags, electronics, etc. that is involved with that driver's seat.

I'm a tech geek, but at some point.....

--->Paul
 
A headline last week was that the California legislature was enacting 752 new laws on January 1st. No telling how many new laws came in by the Congress. I hear people all the time saying they want congress to do ""something"" --- thats 95% of the problem -- if they did nothing but chase strippers around the capital and steal we would be way better off. Look how well everything went the last couple weeks while Zero was on vacation.
 
And everyone asks me "Why do you insist on fixing them old junky trucks.. You could afford new with the money you're investing"

Heck, on our so well maintained dirt roads (HAHAHA) you'll have to clean the camera off about every 15 seconds to see crap with it anyhow.. And even if you can "see" with it, seems like most people are in such a hurry the camera won't prevent a accident anyhow.

Brad
 
I remember "back in the day" country cruising and stopping so gals could "water the lillies" behind the truck... sounds a bit perverted to have a camera back there!

Who'da ever thunk it, "back in the day" when life was a LOT simpler!
 
Great. Now more people will run into something beside them because they will be focused completely on the video screen instead. How about we just teach people how to drive?
 
If true, I'm sure it will only apply to new vehicles and never be retro-active to older stuff.

Easy answer is - never buy new. Non-issue for me since I'll be dead and buried before I ever waste money of a new car or truck. One of the quickest money-losers on the planet. I could buy a small farm for the price of a new truck. At least the farm doesn't rust out and lost 3/4s its value in 10 years.
 
What we need to do is make the political positions a voluntary position and no longer a paid profession. Up until the congress became payed the longest session held was 37 days. The reason was they had to get back to their businesses and to their jobs. They didn't make a dime when they were in Washington or their individual state capitols. They gathered, took care of business and went home. Very simple effective efficient and economical process. A government of the people, by the people and for the people. Not of the special interest groups, buy the Lawyers, to screw the people. I am in New Mexico and I was listening to the news the other night and they were talking about the debt the state is in. Then came a story of how Val Kilmer who owns a large ranch up around Taos owes literally millions in back taxes and interest and penalties and is fighting it in court because he cant afford to pay them. If it was you or me they would already have us tried and sentenced, and we would be without our property. The irony is that it's costing him more than he owes to pay the lawyers to try to get him out of paying the taxes. Go figure. And he is only one of the California Invasion Group that is on the same list. But I must say that Opra Winfry is about the only one of the big names that is paid in full and isn't trying to dupe us in some manner.
Richard Gere, Julia Roberts,and Tom Cruise, are on the list of those owing over $4,000,000 in back taxes. If the state just collected from these deadbeats, It would account for almost half the state debt. Well folks, we all know what we as a people need to do, but will we band together in such a manner as to do it? Let's all start taking an active part in your politics and make a difference, even if it's just to get out and vote our conscience. LarryT
 
"On a similar topic, I was amazed when I learned my 8 yr old nephew STILL has to ride in a car seat. All due to govt regulations."


Is that because of his weight or height or both?

My grandsons are ages 3 & 6 and they ride on boosters as opposed to the prior style which takes up lots and lots of room and are a real pain.

States certainly do differ in what is required.
 
Steve in VA,

Thanks, great link! Read the doc, found it very interesting. Don't want to sound crass, but the agency's figures are that about 300 lives would be saved (assuming ALL loss of life would be prevented and no more caused due to distractions from the video system) at a cost around $ 2 billion (both number are annual figures). That works out to around $ 6 million per year per life saved. Seems high to me.

How about putting the ignition key on the rear bumper. That way, you'd have to walk to the back of the car to start it and can SEE if there is anything in the way? (Yes, I'm being facetious)

Anyway, my point is that govt keeps trying to protect us from every possible bad thing that can happen in our lives. It just won't happen.

Look at all the stuff that has been done to try and prevent school shootings. I've heard horror stories about kids' lives being ruined for bringing butter knives or other innocuous stuff to school. And yet, just today heard about a kid killing a school principal and himself.

And, as Brad points out, there will still be vehicles on the road without them for years and years and people will probably NOT get these expensive things fixed once they break (out of warranty).
 
I urge you all to use the link Steve in VA posted and make a comment. Don't know how much good it will do, but just maybe some $150,000 a year bureaucrat will read them, then go home and ask his 10 year old kid if they make sense.
Just a thought,
Paul
 
Just another example of our government "dumding us down"(makeing everything idotproof).The next thing is they are requireing is hand rails on our toothbrushes!
 
One really subtle point is that this is a "regulation". Since only Congress can make laws, the government creates all these departments that then create regulations to enact each individual agenda. While not a law pre se these regulations usually have penalties attached. The upshot is that the number of bureaucrates pumping-out new and wonderful regulations is astronomical.

Yeah, I too follow the 'too old' approach. The car is 1987 [335,000] and the truck is not too far behind. I remember back to the Y2K frenzy when folks around here thought their car wouldn't run the next day. I assured them that my 1955 Land Rover WOULD RUN. It may be old and slow but it's reliable.
 
Don't know if it's a booster or what Michigan's laws are. Just heard my SIL tell someone to make sure and take the seat when they took him for an outing.

Also,
Paul, good idea. I'm going to post a comment. Like you said, at least someone will hopefully have to read it.
 
Not only the dust from gravel roads (remember, dust
is "pollution" according to the EPA, and they'll
probably have all our roads paved soon), but what
about snow building up on the camera?
 
You are right on with the newly created regulations. Most of the regs are written with steep financial penalties. They are not about safety, they are about transfering wealth back to the government so it can be redistributed. These regulations are a new source of income for the government(tax). It's hard to increase taxes right now, so watch for unbridled new regulation instead.

DOT will jump on this and add it to roadside inspections for commercial trucks. Dirty lens, pay up, camera damaged from rough roads and vibration, pay up. Don't have one on the trailer either, pay up..........
 

You're right. While reading the document you linked to, I just imagined how many people spent time in meetings, flying around the country, consulting with auto engineers (costing THEM time and money), writing the regs, etc. The cost is probably in the millions just to develop the regulation. And, as the doc points out and you allude to, Congress just passes a law with a mandate to achieve an objective and it's up to the departments to enact the regulations to meet it. The congressman who wrote the law got to stand up in front of the cameras when it was signed and tout how many lives this would save and give everybody a warm and fuzzy feeling about what a great job he/she was doing. Then he/she went back to their office and worked on the NEXT intrusion into our lives.

I get email newsletters from my Congressman on this kind of stuff all the time, patting himself on the back. It's all about getting re-elected and staying in power. But, I do my part and vote against the abundant do-gooder every election and continue to send him comments to voice my opinion, which I'm sure he ignores.
 
Whatever are you talking about on this one, when you bring up "transferring wealth," as if it's going to be taken from those who HAVE wealth? Any "wealth" taken from people by this backup camera regulation will be taken from those who CANNOT AFFORD a new vehicle, which will presumably have such an apparatus as standard equipment. THOSE will be the folks who will be caught, fined, and not have sufficient cash to hire the best lawyers to tie up any penalties in endless litigation.

The wealthy will just buy their usual new vehicles with this new feature, and never look back...maybe they'll look DOWN at those of us who can't buy new vehicles every couple of years, but they'll never look BACK.
 
HAHAHAHAHAHA... That's good.. Pave all the dirt roads.. YA.. around here, not so much.. They're ripping out the pavement and turning em back to dirt, due to years of neglect, now they're too broke to actually fix em..

As for snow.. well, they'll just ban snow.. snow will be illegal in the US.. Sadly, that would make more sense than some of the other rules and regulations they decide we need nowaday


Brad
 
I agree completely. The original intent of the Founding Fathers was that regular folks would spend a LIMITED amount of time in politics and then return to their regular lives. Professional politicians are very damaging. No, I don"t think we can get volunteers to do the job, but, at least, we should have term limits.
 
Very seldom would they require retro-fitting cameras (catalytic converters, etc.), except possibly on commercial vehicles. Anyone with enough "wealth" to buy a new vehicle would see it redistributed to those not able to buy new.
 
We both deal with DOT. That isn't out of the realm of possibility. Just one more item to remove dollars from our wallets when they have us at their mercy on the side of the road.
 
(quoted from post at 14:36:40 01/06/11) I agree completely. The original intent of the Founding Fathers was that regular folks would spend a LIMITED amount of time in politics and then return to their regular lives. Professional politicians are very damaging. No, I don"t think we can get volunteers to do the job, but, at least, we should have term limits.
Click to expand...

We've got term limits on the state level here in Michigan. I love it. Two terms and you're out. State legislators try to move up to State Senator. It's a mad scramble every couple of years for these career politicians to try and stay at the public trough.

Lately, the politicians have been putting the blame for state problems on the fact that there are too many "rookies" in the legislature. They lack experience, they say. Well, it was the old "experienced" politicians that caused most of the mess, in my view.

I'd love to see term limits at the national level. Fresh new faces every couple of years would be good. As it stands now, an incumbent Senator or Congressman has to REALLY screw up to not get re-elected. We could eliminate all the pensions and litetime health care at the same time. Too many people are living off the government (translated: OUR tax dollars) and double-dipping on salaries and pensions.

We just had our County Sheriff elected as County Executive. He's retiring from the Sheriff's dept with a $72,000 pension and getting $143,000 as County exec. On top of that, the County Finance chief setup a program a few years ago that allowed people who had reached retirement age (minimum 50 yrs old) to "bank" what they would receive as their pension for 5 years it while still working and getting their salary and benefits. They then got their "banked" pensions as a one-time check. So the ex-sheriff took home a check for over $300,000 the day he "retired" and is now collecting checks totalling over $200k/year. All of that is coming from taxpayer dollars when there's a budget crisis and the County is laying off people and cutting services. The one thing that is certain is that the elected officials will feather their own nests first. They look out for each other, setup deals to swap jobs, hire cronies who have lost their elections, etc.

CB, I agree with you. Public service should be short term and not designed to enrich the public servant.
 
The cost of backup cameras is chump change compared to many other mandated safety features, such as air bags, tire pressure monitoring or the 5 mph bumpers of the 1970's. CCD cameras and miniature video displays are commodity items these days, and if they're installed in every car the cost will go down to almost nothing.

Right now I'm driving a Suburban with a rear view video camera. Visibility out the back of a Suburban is nil; there's no way you can see a short person walking behind you using the mirrors, let alone a small child. I use both side mirrors and the video camera when I'm backing up. I find the video camera so useful that I get in the habit of wiping the lens clean anytime I walk around the back of the vehicle.
 
All I got to say is, the conservatives had absolute power for 6 years straight, and they did NOTHING to reduce the government intrusion in our lives, wasteful spending, or any of the things they supposedly "stand for."

I for one look forward to the next two years. When the federal government is deadlocked in petty partisan politics, the country at least stops swirling the bowl for a while, and the toilet has a chance to refill.
 
I have a new Subaru with a back-up camera. I have to back out of tight parking places with not much room behind me. I love the camera
 
Hey! Wait a cottin pikin minute! Are you telling me that the government wants folks to watch TV instead of talking on the phone? I think we is in a heap o' trouble.
 
My dad has a backup camera on his new truck and for hitching up trailers it is the handiest invention ever. Makes hitching up with 1 person easy as pie.
 
Ill put a back camera on my truck.Backing the boat trailer is a real pain when the boat is off the trailer.I used a bike flag, that helped but cant find the flag now.My chevy pickup wasnt too bad but the Ford has a toolbox that blocks my view.I put the boat and trailer in its winter spot with the tractor, no problem.Put it in the wheel marks.Backing an empty trailer with the truck is hopeless.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
More on New Medicare Card Issuance
Replies
2
Views
503
jimg.allentown
J
D
Looking for a Backup Camera Recommendation
Replies
18
Views
1K
MikeinKy
M
R
4patriot backup power, opinions, John T, others
2
Replies
35
Views
1K
Dusty MI
D
J
Speaking of 4patriot backup power
Replies
17
Views
1K
buickanddeere
B
3
Someone is making money
2 3
Replies
40
Views
1K
Johnhof
J
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top