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Which Cars Have Backup Cameras?

When Did Backup Cameras Become Standard?

All cars and light trucks manufactured for sale in the U.S. since May 1, 2018, have come with backup cameras, thanks to a federal requirement. Prior to that, many cars were equipped with cameras as either standard or optional equipment.

If a backup camera is a priority for you and you’re interested in a car built before 2018, check if it has one before venturing out for a test drive. The newer the used vehicle, the better the chances it will have a built-in camera.

What to Expect When Shopping for Used Cars With Rearview Cameras

The first car with the potential for a backup camera was probably the 1956 Buick Centurion concept car, with a rear-mounted camera that sent images to a dashboard screen. But it would be another 35 years before the first production model with a backup camera debuted: the 1991 Japanese-market Toyota Soarer coupe.

Infiniti was the first automaker to offer a rear camera in the U.S. on the 2002 Q45 sedan. Rearview Monitor was an optional feature that used a camera near the rear license plate, with the image displayed on a dashboard screen along with lines to help with parking.

Early rear cameras were promoted primarily as parking aids, but safety advocates quickly focused on their potential to save lives. Thousands of pedestrians were injured, and more than 200 were killed annually in accidents in which drivers backing up couldn’t see the pedestrian, including many small children, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

After years of delays, NHTSA mandated in 2014 that, starting May 1, 2018, all light vehicles must be equipped with a backup camera.

By the time NHTSA issued the mandate, cameras were available on roughly half the vehicles sold in the U.S., including small cars and SUVs such as the Chevrolet Trax, Honda Fit, and Kia Soul, not just luxury models. By the 2015 model year, rear cameras were standard on every Acura, Buick, Honda, and Infiniti vehicle. Other automakers, including Ford, Nissan, and Toyota, made them standard ahead of the 2018 federal requirement.

Other Safety Features for Backing Up

In addition to backup cameras, many vehicles have other features to help guide drivers when their vehicle is in Reverse. These include rear parking sensors that sound an alarm that increases in frequency as a vehicle gets closer to another object.

In addition, the backup camera on many vehicles today is supplemented with rear cross-traffic alert, which senses traffic approaching from either side when in Reverse, such as when a driver is backing out of a parking space and may not be able to see approaching vehicles.

Cross-traffic alert sounds an alarm, but many vehicles are also equipped with automatic rear braking, which can apply the brakes to avoid a collision when a vehicle backs up.

Photo credit: Honda

Studies Show Backup Cameras Save Lives

A 2019 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that backup cameras alone did little to prevent fender-benders (the study did not measure reductions in injuries or deaths).

The study concluded that rear cameras alone reduced collision rates by only 5 percent. However, combining a camera with rear parking sensors reduced the backup collision rate by 42 percent. Adding automatic rear braking to the camera and parking sensors lowered the collision rate by 78 percent.

Bottom line: IIHS says rear cameras (and parking sensors) do prevent some collisions, but their effectiveness may be limited by drivers who don’t respond to the warnings or look at the screen when backing up.

How effectively rear cameras have reduced injuries and deaths from vehicles backing up is harder to measure. NHTSA, for instance, last issued statistics on pedestrian deaths in 2015, when 284 people were killed and 12,000 injured in backovers in driveways, garages, and other “non-traffic” situations. In addition, not all accident reports include information on whether the vehicles involved had rear cameras, parking sensors, or automatic rear braking.

KidsandCars.org, an organization that advocates for children on a variety of vehicle and traffic safety issues, says there has been a steady decline in deaths among children based on reports from families, law enforcement, media, and others.

The number of deaths listed by Kids and Cars declined from 79 in 2011 to 23 in 2020, likely at least partially due to vehicles having all types of backup features. However, because much of their information is anecdotal, the organization says that those numbers likely understate the actual number of deaths.

Next Steps

If you have questions about this story, please contact us at Editors@carfax.com