This week in safety: CU advocates backup cameras

Rear blind zones are a serious safety issue. According to federal statistics, about 228 people were backed over in 2008 in the U.S. when drivers couldn’t see them. Based on our years of experience with backup cameras and sensor systems, Consumers Union recommends a regulation be crafted to mandate such systems in order to remove deadly blind zones behind cars.

In public comments made this week to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, CU, parent of Consumer Reports, recommended that the agency adopt a standard requiring backup cameras and passive sensors to alert drivers when they need to look at the rear-view screen. Read more about backup cameras on our Cars blog.

Other safety news
Hilarity ensues when lawyers and warnings collide
Associated Press via HeraldNet
A toilet seat that attaches to a trailer hitch has gained national recognition—for a warning label that says you'd better not use it while the vehicle is moving. Read more ...

FDA failing to meet food-safety inspection audit goals
USA Today
The Food and Drug Administration is failing to meet its goals for auditing food-safety inspections that states do on its behalf, FDA data show. The FDA fell short of its goal in at least 17 of 39 states it paid to do inspections in the 2007-08 contract year. Read more ...

Accident sparks discussion about the safety of batting helmets
Springfield News-Leader.com
A batting helmet didn't protect Patrick Clegg, the Waynesville High School baseball player who was struck by a pitch and killed last month. That's because it wasn't designed to do so. Read more ...

Silent recall
Mother Jones
A Mother Jones investigation shows that, too often, the recall system fails. While manufacturers make use of their resources and marketing savvy to sell a crib, they do not always make the same effort later to tell consumers that the same crib could be deadly. Read more ...

CPSC to allow youth ATV sales
The Wall Street Journal
The Consumer Product Safety Commission's two commissioners agreed to allow retailers of youth-model all-terrain vehicles to unload their older inventory despite new restrictions on lead content that had prohibited sales. Read more ...

Pools scramble to make safety fix for summer
KXAS (Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas)
Months after a new federal law requiring safer pool drains took effect, local health officials are still scrambling to see how many public pools have made the repairs, before the start of the summer season. Read more ...

Safety news from the CR blogs

• Cars: Risks reduced for teen drivers when parents are watching
• Babies&Kids: Bicycle seats vs. bike trailers for children
• Health: FDA seizes filthy food and supplement ingredients
• Health: How to plan for an emergency
• Money: Can you get swine flu from a dollar bill?

Don't miss these recalls

• 35,000 Wagner paint sprayers (electric shock hazard)
• 2,936 Action Products necklace craft kits (lead)
• 1,300 Jason Evans children's hooded jackets (drawstrings)
• 960 Unilever Fricon upright freezers (fire hazard)
• 670 Torcofix/Torcoflex and Mountz Torque wrenches (spring failure)
• 550 KTM North America off-road motorcycles (front fork failure)
• 370 Ambler Mountain children’s knitted hats (choking hazard) [image above]