Cars made after 2018 will be required to have rearview cameras

Six years ago, Congress mandated auto safety regulators to pass a federal standard by 2011 that would help keep drivers from running over small children as they backed up their vehicles. On Monday, after three years of repeated delays and a lawsuit, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced the new rule: By May 2018, all new cars and light trucks must be equipped with rearview cameras. “We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable victims of backover accidents — our children and seniors,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement. The announcement came one day before a federal appeals court was scheduled to hear arguments in a lawsuit filed last September by a consortium of safety groups over the delays and one day before a House panel will ask the safety agency’s acting administrator why it did not investigate ignition switch flaws with General Motors cars.