Visibility of children behind 2010-13 model year passenger vehicles using glances, mirrors, and backup cameras and parking sensors: July 2013.

The abstract states: "It is estimated that about 18,000 people are injured and 292 are killed annually in backover crashes. A little more than 10 percent of these injuries involve children younger than 5, but older children also are frequently injured in backing crashes. Visibility of the areas behind the vehicle influences how well drivers can detect and avoid obstacles while reversing. Previous research has measured rear visibility in an assortment of vehicles for a 1-2-year-old child as a worst case scenario. The current study measured rear visibility for 12-15 month-olds, but also examined visibility for 30-36- and 60-72-month-old children. The purpose was to identify the areas behind vehicles where younger and older children are not visible and determine the extent to which vehicle technologies like backup cameras improve visibility and parking sensors detect objects in areas that are not visible. Rear visibility in 21 2010-13 model year vehicles with a backup camera system or a backup camera and rear parking sensor system was assessed in an area that was 20 feet wide and extended 70 feet from the rear bumper. A 50th percentile male observer was used to make judgments about the visibility of targets simulating the height of a child 12-15 months old (30.2 inches tall), 30-36 months old (36.8 inches tall), and 60-72 months old (42.7 inches tall). Judgments were made using the left and right side mirrors, rearview mirror, glances over the right shoulder through the rear window, backup camera, and parking sensors (if available). The area behind the vehicle where each target was not visible (blind zone) and the average sight distance from the rear bumper to the target were used to characterize rear visibility for each vehicle. The size of the image in the backup camera display from the midpoint of the observer’s eyes also was assessed." PDF available at: http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/children.html