it's an oil patch safety procedure that started on the rigs. if a fire or explosion or some other emergency act would happen, backing in would create less of a traffic jam trying to leave the site. the service companies started following suit many years ago. years ago some of our welding bottles exploded starting a chain reaction in which the buildings were evacuated.

 

OK. So in summary, for oil rigs, 3rd Armored, Fire Fighters where you might have to leave in a hurry, it creates more of a traffic jam when you are backing in to a spot but allows you to leave in a hurry. All of which are good for those purposes. For say Napa or other delivery drivers, if the driver backs out into a kid, it costs more than if he backs into a car since again, the delay in backing in is free.

So, for grandpa, whose skills are diminishing along with the rest of his senses, maybe he needs to "cut the coat according to his cloth" and stop backing up.

 

 

Never, never, never understood why members of CF feel it is their obligation to instruct, inform, chastise, correct, etc. an OP (or their family member) as to what to do and how to do it when they ask a simple question regarding information about a part or recommendation for a part. I re-read the post and didn't come across any advice request except for a back-up camera for his 70 year old father! Not "should my father back into the garage"......
Inevitably it turns into a complete fixation as to what the OP (or family member) is doing wrong, a question as to why they do it, and starts down the path of how ridiculous they (or their family members) are for thinking, feeling, doing, something they want to do. Hello - you don't need to know when it is clear the OP wants advice on a product. And geeze, how many of you have been successful in changing the habits of a 70 year old????
BTW "So, for grandpa, whose skills are diminishing along with the rest of his senses, maybe he needs to "cut the coat according to his cloth" and stop backing up." WRONG! ...The only thing the OP said was "He is 70 and eyesight not the greatest" - nothing about his "skills are diminishing along with the rest of his senses". Maybe YOU need to cut the coat and improve your eyesight or reading comprehension and not invent or insert fake info where it doesn't exist.......

 

I agree 100%. And a backup camera can make any car safer. That's why all new cars are required to have them.

 

Perhaps the car mounted ones are better than the aftermarket ones. Your call.

You want to mount it on a C4? Be my guest. I don't think the BOYO ones will fit. so you will have to go with something like what I have which is ACCELE. I mated it to a PIONEER unit and the DVD quality is acceptable. I guess you can't do that either since you have to have a larger head unit which the OP doesn't want to change. So lets go with YADA. I don't own that either but I have played around a car that has it and there is a little hesitation in the Bluetooth transmission sometimes. The Accele unit is wire connected so there is no Bluetooth hiccup but none of them have good images when it is darker. Bright sunshine, sure. PS. Active Parking lines doesn't always work like it should. Sometimes it shows a slight turn when there is none and vice versa.

I bought the Pioneer head unit and the Accele because I have lost most of the cartilage in my knees and jumping up and down isn't the greatest thing for my knees when I am trying to hook up the RV by myself. Again, growing older and body less able so have to use devices to cheat on the one or two hookups a year with that thing where I have to get it close to perfectly aligned. That unit had to have a wire run all the way to the head unit. How fun is that.

Bottom line is that while OEM seems ok and I haven't tested it extensively, when you get the sub $200 kits with TV and camera, it isn't that good a picture. Even in there is sun but not bright, it is still easy to miss the parking sticks I have put up when viewing the camera. It's great for not running over kids behind you but if you don't watch out, the garage door frame might jump in front of your mirror if you turn. Friend replaced a couple of mirrors assemblies before he gave up backing his truck into the garage.

That is why I was asking whether there was a real good reason other than "it's my thing" when it comes to backing up into the garage. The question is whether it justifies the effort and cost. In a 2018 and up car, it is there. When it isn't, there is cost of the product and effort. Picture might be better when you go up to the $400 range, IDK since it isn't worth it for me when all I need it for is to line up the hitch 2 times a year.

BTW, if you can't change a 70 yo person's habits, dumping a couple hundred bucks of tech and having them rely on it might also be a stretch. Adopted Dad doesn't like computers since it isn't of time past that he was familiar with. Magical thing is he knows how to view camera pics from the SD card in his field camera on a computer but "doesn't know how" to use Google. Bottom line, it isn't so much of a case of "cannot" vs "will not". A couple bumps might change his mind and make "will not" a "will do" situation.

 

The world is full of wannabes :-)

 

I've been driving since 1969 and had my C4 for 23 years and have yet to find a situation where the sideview and rearview mirrors, along with turning my head, don't provide enough vision to backup safely. If I get to the point where I can't park without cameras, it will be time to use Uber exclusively.

 

 

Yeah, tell that to the drivers who have inadvertently run over their kids, grandchildren, neighbor's children, etc. when backing up. Many were SUVs, vans, but some were regular passenger cars. Ask me how I know - a friend in a Porsche 911 backed over his daughter as she sat behind the car plucking weeds between the cement sections. One minute she was in the house, next minute looking for "flowers".....

 

A tow vehicle is something different and I accept that a camera makes sense in that application but I was specifically addressing a C4, as I indicated in my post. Sorry about your friend's daughter but if you have small children playing outside when you're backing up you should know where they are. That is just carelessness!

 

You know, I almost nailed a toddler IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. Seems like Dingbats Grandpa and Grandma had let the kid wander out into the street on a fall night in diapers. Not a clue what to do so we grabbed the kid and called the cops. Just then, Grandpa ran up and said it was his grandson that escaped. I thought it was a coyote or something bigger than a rabbit. Wife thought he was the real deal when the kid recognized him so we called off the cops and handed it over. Don't know who made a bigger wet spot in their pants. Gramps or me almost hitting the kid. Unfortunately, lots of kids get loose when the parents aren't watching them closely and ASSUME that all is well.

For the rear view camera to work, the driver MUST retrain themselves to ACTIVELY look at the image before engaging and keeping it at the corner of the eye. Otherwise, it is just another silly screen to watch your DVD **** while cruising down the highway. Same thing with guns. They help BUT YOU MUST TRAIN CONSTANTLY. Same with the rear view camera.

 

Ridiculous response Ric96...."carelessness"??????????????? Do/did you ever have children? Ever have one walk away from you? At the store, at a play area? For a minute? Some people are just, clueless. End of discussion for me.
My last words, I hope the OP finds a suitable backup camera for his dad, looks like some pretty good suggestions.

 

I remember that the car companies were fighting to avoid having to put backup cameras in their cars. I think it was the safety transportation board holding the meetings. On one of the last meetings on this subject the board found out that a dozen or so parents who had run over their children were coming to testify. I think they may have cancelled the meeting and told the car companies that the backup camera would be mandatory. The same thing is happening now with side proximity warning. Then you'll probably see pedestrian braking and on and on...........

 

Yes I do... and I never hit any one of them with a car! Never lost one either. Enough said!

 

 

I added a Backup Camera from Costco. It is solar powered and the camera is integrated into the license plate housing. The receiver sits inside plugged into the lighter. A wave of the hand activates the camera.

 

I'm skipping to the end as this thread seems to have gone off topic quite a bit and I don't feel like reading it all, so apologize if already mentioned.

Look into dash camera rear view mirrors. They are extremely economical now and you can easily hook up a back-up camera to them. I put one on my Corvette and my Viper so I could easily add a back-up camera but also to protect myself when some idiot does something stupid and wants to blame it on me. Less than $200 all in and now I have a recording of my drives (front and rear) and can easily see when backing out of spots or into parking spots.

 

There is been some worried people about the crash data the Airbag system records in that it can be used AGAINST them. So if I make a claim that you did something stupid, the recording can clear you. OTOH, what happens when YOU made a mistake? Can the recording be subpoenaed and used AGAINST YOU like they can read the data 20 seconds just before the airbag deploys?

 

I bought my mother a wireless camera system by "Emmako" off Amazon for Christmas, was about $90. Easy install, the camera mounts to license plate frame, run a wire into the trunk with a transmitter, the display has a receiver built in and plugs into the 12v power adapter (formerly known as cigarette lighter). The camera wiring taps into the reverse lights. It works pretty well and the screen colors and clarity are decent. The trouble will be finding a spot for the monitor.

In the literature with the camera, it said "contact us for a free 2nd camera". So I did, and they actually sent me another one, albeit a different model. The one I received wasn't near as good, the screen was smaller and uses a bad flip up bulky base, and the receiver isn't built into the screen so it has wires and stuff all over. Very hard to find room in the C4 cockpit for it, so it's balled up in a bunch of wires in the cargo area LOL. Due to the size of the screen (4.3") it's somewhat hard to see and really the warp of the lens is very misleading.

I can be backing up, and two feet away from something and it looks like it is about to hit. So I have to stop, get out, check, keep backing up. If something like a garbage can is behind me to the left and I can miss it by about 6", the camera makes it look like it is four feet away. So, definitely not something you can use to look at and guide you into your spot like a built-in modern car with a backup camera and safety sensors, but good to see if you are about to run over something you were not expecting to be there.