Warning: Backup Camera Problem

I park in a parking garage every Thursday for a lunch meeting. It is much easier to back into the slots than it is to back out of it and I use the backup camera to gauge where to stop. It works very well when the back wall is flat.

Today I had to park on the sloped ramp between floors where the back wall is a cable fence. The backup camera is focused back and DOWN. It does not necessarily show you what might be hanging down.

I backed into a metal rack enclosing a fire valve that was not visible until just before I hit it. The camera showed room behind the bumper but I didn't see the metal frame until the last second.

Cracked the left taillight.

Be careful of hanging items when backing up.

 

Sorry...but ^this. People backed up for YEARS without cameras...and if that little screen is all you were lookin at the back up...You earned that crack.

 

I find the distortion of anything farther away then a few inches makes the camera useless for backing up. It works great for lining up the ball and hitch on a trailer or seeing if anything is directly behind the truck, but I don't trust it for anything much else.

 

I only use mine to see the bumper and use my mirrors with blind spots and rear view to see everything higher. Actually like having it but never depend on it.

 

Thats for the warning... though the same basic message is written right across the bottom of the mirror

 

I find it simple to use after having 'practiced' during the first week or two i had it. 'Practice' as in get out of the truck and confirming that i was seeing what i thought i was seeing for perspective.

Its pretty much a piece of cake and a great tool if you know how to use it and use it in conjunction with the other options. (Mirrors, head turn, common sense)

Honestly don't know how some of the experienced drivers find it so tricky to use.

 

how would u have done it if u didnt have the camera? dont trust those things

 

mirrors...severely overrated when you have a camera available....

what has technology done for you today!!

OP, do you even use your mirrors when backing up or just the camera?

 

I did. The box was hanging behind and above the truck and not visible in the driver side mirror.

 

The whole point of my post was to document my inappropriate reliance on the camera and a warning for everyone else to not be as stupid as I was.

 

X2