Nitwits and their backup cameras

[honeeagle]

when you get old you will understand how little range of motion you can have

And let's not forget the seniors that like to walk around in parking lots looking for their cars and just stand there!
On a few occasions if it wasn't for my backup camera and my reverse sensor breaking one of these disoriented seniors would have been tagged.
My gripe is why do seniors walk around aimlessly in parking lots and not look both ways before they cross the streets either.
Are they entitled?
I now honk my horn a few times as I'm backing up just to let the other morons that like to speed and just shoot out of their parking spaces with Reckless abandonment and mostly to alert the walkers.
Don't get me wrong I'm not after seniors but I have seen more and more seniors that are oblivious to their location and their situation. Perhaps they're all over medicated.
Not trying to offend any seniors here because I'm 67, but I look both ways before I cross the streets and never do I hobble around in parking lots.
It's a Surefire way to get tagged that's why shopping cart assistance were those little orange jackets.
So yes some of these new car features are good. Things like Lane centering assistance I can for sure leave that function we need to stay focused on driving not our phones.

 

[supton]

I added a back up camera to our 2007 Grand Cherokee. I used the AutoVox item listed in Amazon. Of course I spliced the camera into one of the back up lights.

I added one to my Tundra; once I put on the cap, with its smoked rear window, the rearview mirror was useless. So it was a great place to hang it.

At first I had it connected just to the reverse lamp, so it would come on only in reverse. I had a larger cargo trailer and found that when backing up to hitch up, there were times I wanted to pull forward while finding the right angle—so I wound up diode connecting to both reverse and parking lamps.

Wound put installing a camera in the cargo trailer too. I elected to hang it high, just to see how I’d like it, and wound up leaving it there. Good view looking down. When I would hook up the trailer lights, I would grab the phono jack for the camera and run it into the truck bed, where I had left the RCA jack out just for this purpose. Swap one camera for the other. [I think initially I bought a wireless setup that had two inputs, priority and non, but had some issues and wound up no longer using it. If I were to do this again, might go wireless again.]. While driving I would often turn on the lights just so that I could see what was behind the trailer, even when pulling forward.

 

[supton]

Oh, and backup cameras are a blessing. Modern vehicles are so chunky with thick pillars for crash safety that without them it would be difficult if not impossible to safely back up.

Not even just that—the C pillars on my Tundra were awful. There was a Y intersection that I used to go through on occasion—I guess it’s technically still there — that I all but went through blind, as I could not see through to the right of the truck to see oncoming traffic.

Same problem showed up on other non-90 degree intersections, I found that I was starting to angle the truck coming up to certain places just so that I could get the passenger window in the right spot. The pillars would otherwise be in the way.

 

[alarmguy]

You trusted Chevy/GM technology to save your life? Are you out of your mind?!!!! I did have an Equinox as a rental recently, and was pretty impressed with it overall. Not a bad vehicle at all. But are you out of your mind?!!!

Aa posted my wife and I tested her 2025 Equinox by walking behind the car while we were backing up. We took turns (carefully of course) in each case the car automatically hit the brakes and vibrated the drivers seat with a heavy vibration.

You will love this one!
Her car is pretty much loaded but doesnt have GM Super Cruise. (after seeing what all this technology does, I now wish it did. Super Cruise is actually preferred over Tesla's self driving by some auto publications. The Tesla is much more robust for secondary roads but they felt not comfortable with it on those roads and didnt find much use for it for that purpose, with the GM Super Cruise, even though it will not drive on less known or used roads they were more confident in the way GM drove where it mattered on main roads/highways.
Ok, enough on that.

Her car (I'm sure like others) does have a safety feature that, lets say your not paying attention or you fall asleep at the wheel The car tracks the lane you are in and will self steer so you dont go off the road. After the car makes couple corrections and senses no input from you it will then alert you to a HEAVY vibration in your seat. Anyway I tested it a number of times on straight roads, on curves. I just let go of the wheel, even bends in the road (you know that song? "Jesus take the Wheel"?).

You will get close to the edge of the road and the car will self correct, I think if it is forced to self correct more than 3 times in a row it vibrates your seat. This is while cruise control is on. Also of course like most others it will track the car in front of you and you can set the distance you want to stay behind.

If the car in front stops for a light, it will self brake. I tried doing this without any input from me. Meaning cruising at 60 mph on cruise control following the car in front of us. Car in front starts braking fairly hard for a red-light and the Equinox hits the brake fairly hard to come to stop as well. The only thing is, I chicken out at the last minute and put my foot on the brake. *LOL* Im sure the system works fine but too afraid to completely check it out. Also of course if a car at those speeds decides to slow abruptly to make a turn, the Equinox is aggressive in the way it brakes. Maybe a bit too aggressive but it works as a human you can see the car in front is going to complete the turn but the Equinox only knows a car in front is slowing down quickly so it hits the brakes pretty good, once that car turns it speeds up pretty aggressively too. That I think can be worked on a little better but it works.

 

[MaximumMini]

wait............
If you back in while parking, you don't have to back out when leaving.
Difference? <scratches head>

PS....two good reasons for backing in.....
1). You're driving a stolen car.
2). You're a cheating spouse (almost all law enforcement vehicles and tow trucks have plate readers and feed into a whereabouts database)

 

[alarmguy]

wait............
If you back in while parking, you don't have to back out when leaving.
Difference? <scratches head>

PS....two good reasons for backing in.....
1). You're driving a stolen car.
2). You're a cheating spouse (almost all law enforcement vehicles and tow trucks have plate readers and feed into a whereabouts database)

Eh... if you're sandwiching a larger vehicle into a tight parking space, some places where the opposing lanes are close together, backing the vehicle is more maneuverable being the front wheels turn. Cameras give a nice picture angle too. I typically do not but there is some merit. I suspect with so many backup cameras it makes it more easy to do now.

Good point on the plate readers!!!!

 

[wlk]

Sorry...Tom, Richard, and Harry!

Hope I don't ever have to reference **** Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve, comic strip detective **** Tracy, or former VP **** Cheney!

Getting a little silly here...

I am the son of a RIchard who always went by ****. On his grave it say "Cheers ****". Ugh

 

[Patman]

Long before I had cars with back up cameras I was backing into parking spots. In a parking lot filled with large pickup trucks and SUVs it’s much easier to see when you pull out of that spot later.

 

[Hohn]

If you are constantly waiting for some one to park…you are parking too close to the store!

Go out 50 yards or so, park in twenty seconds and get some exercise walking in. I can’t believe the conga line of cars in the middle of the lane waiting for some dude to load his trunk and leave. Just so they can park near the store. I’m in and out sometimes before they park….and I’m 79 years old!

It's mind boggling how many times I have parked slightly farther away, exited the vehicle and entered the store before some lazy and not particularly bright person has even been able to pull into the spot they "claimed" by blocking traffic for everyone else with their turn signal on.

The spot is open or it's not. If it's open, pull in. If it's not, keep moving and stop blocking the flow of traffic for everyone else because you're too lazy to walk another 40 feet.

 

[earlyre]

a few years back, my Dad's Cousin backed into his Wife's Minivan attempting to turn his Truck around in their Driveway...resulting in Both vehicles making a trip to the body shop...
the first thing the shop owner did was point out to him that the truck has a backup camera, which could have prevented this incident had he been paying attention to it....
he didn't want to hear it... too bull headed, which I'll admit is a running trait in this family...