AAA Says Rear Cross-Traffic Systems Aren’t Foolproof

There are several holiday clichés that should be avoided for press releases, and AAA just used one of the worst. It stated that the American public in general deserves to be on Santa’s naughty list. The reason for this accusation is the tendency to pull into and backing out of parking spots and driveways, rather than backing in and pulling out.

While to some people this seems arbitrary like the under- or over-hand toilet paper hanging argument, AAA is correct that pulling out of a parking stall helps prevent accidents. But modern cars come with rear cross-traffic systems that are supposed to warn the driver when another vehicle is approaching from behind. AAA says the technology doesn’t work as well as people would think, making it a big safety risk.

AAA got together with the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Automotive Research Center to test out some different rear cross-traffic systems. The organizations didn’t release how individual manufacturer’s technology works, but they did say that 30 percent of the time the systems failed to detect other cars. They were even worse at detecting cyclists and pedestrians.

For the tests, the car was parked between bigger vehicles like minivans or SUVs, which was apparently what made the technology struggle. Of course, the average driver might fail to see these moving objects without the sensors.

So what does this mean for people who have this kind of tech in their vehicle? It’s still safest to back into a parking spot. If you pull in, then back out of it slowly and still turn around so you use your actual eyes to look out for cars and people. The technology works some of the time, but in the instances where it fails you need to be the backup.

Lest anyone think that AAA is a bunch of technophobes, the organization actually concluded before that rear camera systems, like those used for backing up or checking a car’s blind spots, are great for preventing accidents. It did note that no camera is perfect, and that snow, mud, etc. can cloud the lens and make the system useless.