HitchCAM: Rearview Camera Helps Prevent SUV/Truck Accidents and Injuries

COMMERCE, Calif., Nov. 4, 2002 -- America's insatiable desire for larger vehicles is not without cost. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, low-speed fender benders are more costly for SUVs and trucks. HitchCAM improves the visibility of SUVs and pickups by exposing 4 to 5-foot vertical rearview blind spots that can extend 20 feet back.

HitchCAM is an innovative rearview camera system that securely integrates with a vehicle's standard 2-inch hitch receiver. It features a state-of-the- art, wide-angle lens video camera protected by a sleek aluminum hitch cover, with a windshield mountable 3.5-inch color LCD monitor for night-and-day viewing.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's recent 5 mph crash tests of five 2000-01 SUVs show them to have much more damage than other passenger cars -- from $190 to $3,317 in the rear-into-pole test and from $949 to $2,525 in the front-into-angle barrier test. According to the National Highway Traffic Administration, there is a backing accident every 1.6 minutes in the U.S. -- most happen when the driver doesn't see the obstacle.

Data culled from police reports, news articles and lawsuits by Kids N Cars revealed that more than half of injuries and deaths in backing accidents were cause by trucks, SUVs and vans. And 31.1 percent of all injuries and deaths involving children resulted from backing accidents in 2002. A recent study from Pittsburgh's Children's Hospital found pickups and SUVs were involved in nearly two-thirds of their driveway-related injury or death caseload.

The inspiration for this product came to David Mendoza, whose Los Angeles- based firm ShowFX specializes in the engineering and fabrication of touring stages and effects for entertainers such as David Copperfield, Destiny's Child, and Tim McGraw. "I was riding in a clients' customized SUV with a built-in rearview camera system that obviously required an intricate installation," he explained. "I thought there had to be a more universal system that would offer this optical advantage to typical SUV buyers at an affordable price."

This rearview camera system is made with the highest-quality components to ensure that the product performs well over the long haul.

HitchCAM is currently sold through car dealerships, aftermarket installers and distributors, and will be making its debut at the SEMA show in Las Vegas this week.

HitchCAM(TM) is a division of ShowFX, a privately-held company headquartered in Commerce, CA. Founded in 1982, the company has engineered and manufactured proprietary designs for use in theme-park rides, attractions, touring stages and special effects for the entertainment industries, and now the automobile accessories industry.