Delays over backup camera ruling prompt consumer groups to sue US government

Consumer groups claim that it would save lives to compel automakers to install backup cameras in all new vehicles. President Bush directed the Department of Transportation to have new standards by 2011, but now they’re saying it won’t be until 2015 before they can make a rule. This didn’t sit will with the consumer groups.

A group of consumer advocates sued the U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday for repeatedly delaying a potentially life-saving rule requiring backup cameras in new cars sold in the United States.

The rule, originally expected in 2011, would have prevented hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries from “backover” crashes, when a pedestrian or a cyclist is struck by a vehicle moving in reverse, the groups said in a court filing.