In response to Section 10304 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act:​ A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted a study of existing backover prevention technologies for light vehicles. The objective was to assess how well current, commercially-available backover prevention technologies perform in detecting objects, particularly small children. Eleven available backover avoidance technologies were identified and examined. The object detection performance of sensor-based systems was measured using a set of test objects in both static and dynamic conditions. Visual systems, including rearview camera systems and cross-view mirrors were examined to determine their field of view and subjectively estimate the clarity of the image they provide of the area behind the vehicle.

Sensor-based systems generally exhibited poor ability to detect pedestrians, particularly children, located behind the vehicle. Systems’ detection performance for children was inconsistent, unreliable, and in nearly all cases quite limited in range. Based on calculations of the distance required to stop from a particular vehicle speed, detection ranges exhibited by the systems were not sufficient to prevent many collisions with pedestrians or other objects.

The rearview video systems examined had the ability to show pedestrians or obstacles behind the vehicle and provided a clear image of the area behind the vehicle in daylight and indoor lighted conditions. While the auxiliary mirror systems tested also displayed any rear obstacles present, their fields of view covered a smaller area behind the vehicle than did the video systems tested, and the displayed images were subject to distortion caused by mirror convexity and other factors (e.g., window tinting) making rear obstacles more difficult to recognize in the mirror. In order for visual backing systems to prevent crashes, drivers must look at the video display or auxiliary mirror, perceive the pedestrian or obstacle, and respond correctly.