(WWJ) A new study indicates that backup cameras on cars are saving lives.
The cameras have been required equipment since 2018. They help drivers who are backing up see areas here they couldn’t see before, and these are also areas where a small child could be.
A study done by UTHealth Houston showed that the number of child “backover traumas” reduced from an average of 7.2 a year before the requirement was put in place to roughly 2.7 a year today.
“We are truly doing an excellent job of recognizing severe and dangerous issues related to car safety,” says study author Dr. Jeannette Joly, who’s a pediatric surgery resident at the hospital.
The research is being presented at the annual American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition.
The UTHealth study found that between January 2011 and November 2024 the number of injuries classified as “severe” decreased by nearly half. The number of publicly reported fatal cases decreased by 78 percent.
Our study demonstrates an important association between the federal mandate in 2018 requiring all new vehicles to be equipped with a backup camera and the reduction in both rate and severity of pediatric backover trauma,” said Natalie A. Drucker, MD, MS, an assistant professor of pediatric surgery at UTHealth Houston.
The hospital’s study came up with results similar to an examination of cases curated by the group Kids and Car Safety.
It’s impressive and important to see the same reduction in the rate of backover traumas in both data sets separately,” said Dr. Joly.
She says the results of the study are encouraging, but also show that more lives could be saved if backup cameras could be placed in older vehicles that are still on the road.
“I think it’s important to not turn a blind eye to that, and to promote as best as we can even more use of this rear visibility technology.”
Many safety advocates have called for subsidies to be used to get the cameras into more vehicles, sooner rather than later. Dr. Drucker said the widespread adoption of this technology should be a priority.
“While this is exciting, necessary progress toward injury prevention in a vulnerable population, these events continue to occur and thus demand continued advocacy efforts to promote the safety of our children.”