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Last week’s column about reversing cameras sparked plenty of healthy debate. Some readers agree with Mazda boss Martin Benders that reversing cameras aren’t a silver bullet, while others see them as a potential lifesaver.
A silver bullet does exist.
Almost five years ago, I attended a Nissan safety briefing in Japan where the company told media it was looking at developing technology that could slam on a car’s brakes if it detected anything in its path when the car was reversing.
Emergency braking feature for reversing is still not commonplace
Nissan engineering director Masao Fukushima said the technology would be relatively quick and inexpensive to develop as it used existing features such as parking sensors and blind-spot radar.
But despite huge advances in safety tech, an emergency braking feature for reversing is still not commonplace, even on luxury vehicles.
We have auto braking that can stop a car moving forward at low speed and there are even cruise control setups that can brake in an emergency.
Mazda is the only mainstream maker to have a reversing emergency brake feature
Ironically, Mazda is the only mainstream maker to have a reversing emergency brake feature — available on its top-of-the-line Mazda6 sedan. The Infiniti Q50 also has it.
But in Australia, it’s been left to a Brisbane aftermarket company to develop a solution. The Reverse Alert sells for about $1500 installed.
The company is preparing to list on the stock exchange. It envisages the technology being used on forklifts, building sites — and, of course, the home driveway. It is estimated one child a week is reversed over.
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