No guides on the rearview camera?

Ditto. Not a good idea to rely too extensively on the camera when backing up.

 

There are two short horizontal lines close to the bumper close to the sides. You could line those uo with the lines on the pavement or other obstacles behind.

 

I have those guide lines displayed, if I can remember, it can be switched on/off through touch screen when you are in reverse.


iPhone ?
Zdenok

 

I've never had a camera before, but so far in my first week of having the car the backup camera seems like more a novelty. Kind of a "Hey Cool" sort of thing, but I honestly have barley looked (or even want to) look at it. Doesn't feel right looking down at the console when I'm backing up. I'd rather physically be looking at where I'm going. I can see glancing at it to look for obstacles, but otherwise I can live without it completely...

 

Agreed. It's a toy with little practical use. The sensors are so much better than the camera.


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Whenever I'm in reverse, the camera is a little deceiving because objects show up farther away than you really are to whatever you are backing up to. So I always have to double check by turning my head anyways because I'm always a little worried that I'm actually too close to something even though it doesn't look like it in the camera.

 

Have you seen the demos of entire kindergarten classes hidden behind an SUV in a pattern where it is physically impossible to see any of them from the driver seat, from any standard mirror or over the shoulder through the rear and side glass? The same problem exists, on a smaller scale, with the Prius and very many other passenger cars as well. The gradually worsening rearward visibility of the motor fleet over the past two decades has been accompanied by a sharp increase in child backover deaths. That is why Bush signed a law that will effectively force backup cams soon.

The rearward space that I cannot see from inside this car is considerably larger than that of my previous cars. And now a young child that lives next to my back up path has entered the high mobility phase. Now he easily has the ability to run up and hide behind while I'm getting seated, after I've inspected the immediate rear path from outside. The lack of visibility has make me increasingly nervous.

I acquired a backup camera only yesterday, so can't yet comment on how well it works. The expectation is that I'll still be looking back through the hatch while backing, but will check the camera first before releasing the brake. And the camera should let me inch closer to fixed objects to make better use of available parking space than my less-than-ideal depth perception allows otherwise.

 

Unless you have the ATP package the camera on the v (Level 3) will let you see whether something is behind you but probably will not be useful for spatial relationships or "inching" closer to fixed objects. The ATP provides a grid which may make it more useful.

 

Let's examine.
1. You have to walk to get into your car. Use your eyes to look around before you get in. Driving 101
2. You have two side mirrors and one rearview mirrorr. Do you really need 4 areas to divert your eyes?

Hearing a sound is much better. I've had both systems in my car. The camera is a toy. The longer you own the car the less you will use it.

Let's face it. If you are an observant person you will not need a camera, and if you're not observant a camera won't help anyway.

 

The best rearview camera I ever had the priveledge of using was on a Hyundai Genesis rental car. I got a free upgrade to the luxury class in Orlando once and my choices were the Genesis, a Lincoln Towncar or a Hummer H3. The Genesis was the hands down winner and by the time we had to turn it in, we struggled to give up the keys.
I'm a pretty old-school conventional sports guy type that hates automatic trannys and scoffs at gadgets, but the crash avoidance cruise control and the backup camera grew on me and I now see both of those technologies in a new light. Before talking my aged father out of his car keys at 85 yrs of age, he had his share of parking lot dings and fender benders that this type of tecno wizardry could have greatly reduced if not prevented outright.
Of particular note was the combination of the rear view camera (with distance references and lines) and the proximity sensors in the bumpers. The lines establised a direct visual representation of the car's path - you caould tell what the car would hit (and/or miss) simply based off of the sight picture on the screen.
I agree with the other posters that in the Prius' application, the back up screen shot is more for making sure that nothing is directly behind the car than it is a substitue for the normal method of looking around. However, I do wish we could upgrade the camera just to get reference lines as I do feel they help establish a clear path for the Prius rather than just what might be directly behind. Another tool in the drivers' toolbox.

 

Ok. I'm officially over myself. It still doesn't change the fact that the backup camera is a useless toy. Proximity sensors are far superior from a collision avoidance standpoint. If you have proximity sensors you don't need a backup camera, but you can't say the opposite is true.