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LaHood delays rule that may require backup cameras

Updated

By Chris Woodyard, Fred Meier and James R. Healey

UPDATE 7:35 ET for DOT delay for a year of camera rule.

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood again has delayed a rule that could have required backup cameras in all cars and trucks on 2014 models -- a move the Department of Transportation says could save about 300 lives a year.

In a letter today to members of oversight committees in the Senate and the House of Representatives, LaHood wrote: "I now anticipate the department can issue the final standards by Dec. 31, 2012."

LaHood previously had said the standards would be published by tomorrow.

A 2007 law requiring the DOT to set rules to improve the ability to see pedestrians behind vehicles had set Feb. 28, 2011, as the deadline for regulations, but allowed the secretary to delay it. Safety regulators proposed a rule in December 2011, but LaHood put off the deadline citing, "the complexity and volume of issues identified in the public comments on our proposed rule."

In shoving the deadline back again today, he says in his letter, that "further research and data analysis is important to ensure the most protective and efficient rule possible, including a wider range of vehicles and drivers."

If getting a final rule takes until December, it could delay the 2014 goal for cameras in all vehicles, because 2014 models could begin to hit the market in January of 2013, or just days after the Dec. 31 deadline.

It's not clear what issues remain, but one known sticking point has been how fast the camera image must appear after the driver shifts into reverse. Regulators want one second or so, carmakers have sought three seconds to allow time for cameras integrated into infotainment systems to "boot up."

The New York Times had reported today that a final would come tomorrow and we reported that, but it now looks wrong.

In making the first proposal. the DOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that some 292 fatalities and 18,000 injuries result each year from back-over incidents. It said 228 of the fatalities involve cars and lights trucks and the most likely victims are kids and older folks, with 44% of the light-vehicle fatalities involving children under age 5 and 33% involving people 70 or older.

Earlier in Drive On:

NHTSA postponed the backup rule last year over activation time.

NHTSA makes proposal for first backup system regulations.

Hyundai hides camera behind clever flip-door on new Elantra hatchback.

The government estimates the cameras will add up to $200 to the sticker price of a new light vehicles. The impact in percentage and in actual dollars would be greatest on the lowest-price vehicles, particularly those without advanced dashboard screens. Some automakers, such as Honda, above, have come up with a system that displays the image in a corner of the rear-view mirror. Many vehicles, particularly SUVs and high-end cars, already offer a camera at least as an option.

David Champion, head of Consumer Reports' Auto Testing Center, says that requiring backup cameras "is a great thing," because visibility is getting worse in today's cars.

He says "we're seeing many issues with side-impact and roof-crush (regulations), and that's driving manufacturers to put in smaller windows and have bigger (roof) pillars. And there are changes in style to be sleek, and higher tails for aerodynamics, so visibility to the rear has gone down."

Champion sides with the feds on the one-second issue: "You want to see immediately what's behind you. Unfortunately some of the manufacturers put logos up on the screen, or you have to turn the radio on to have the backup camera work. It should work every time you put it in reverse and it should come on before you back up."

He says moments matter: In one test, a vehicle backed up nearly three car lengths -- idling, without the driver pushing the throttle -- before the backup camera began to show an image.

Here is LaHood's letter:

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