tapping into reverse light

[caineroad]

hello

i bought a reverse camera, it comes with a + and - connection, is the reverse light the best option to do it?

which wire is it?

thanks!

[caineroad]

help!!

[bronsin]

My advice is dont install the camera.

Here what going to happen.

You install the camera. You use it for years. Maybe decades. You believe with all your heart it works.

One day you look in your camera. The area IMMEDIAELY BEHIND YOUR CAR is empty. You believe there is no child behind you. You back and and run over and crush to death a two year old, who, out of the vision of you camera, breaks free of its parents hand 20 feet down the sidewalk. Where your camera cannot see it. The child runs down the sidewalk, frantically chased by its horrified parent. The parent sees your car begin to move. They scream but either no sound comes out, or you do not hear it, or everything happens to fast to make any difference. For several seconds in their mind they know they are about to see your car with its camera run over their child. But there is nothing they can do about it.

Because you believe you have done the right thing by installing a camera to prevent just such a thing from happening, and because you have been for years using it successfully, you back up secure in the knowledge there is nothing behind you.

You run over and kill the child in front of its parents anyway.

That is how accidents happen.

My advice? LOOK BEHIND YOU BEFORE BACKING UP! Look REAL good. Both ways. If there is an obstruction back up SLOWLY as though a child might run out from behind it.

Because someday it might.

[Billiam]

Originally Posted by bronsin

My advice is dont install the camera.

Here what going to happen.

You install the camera. You use it for years. Maybe decades. You believe with all your heart it works.

One day you look in your camera. The area IMMEDIAELY BEHIND YOUR CAR is empty. You believe there is no child behind you. You back and and run over and crush to death a two year old, who, out of the vision of you camera, breaks free of its parents hand 20 feet down the sidewalk. Where your camera cannot see it. The child runs down the sidewalk, frantically chased by its horrified parent. The parent sees your car begin to move. They scream but either no sound comes out, or you do not hear it, or everything happens to fast to make any difference. For several seconds in their mind they know they are about to see your car with its camera run over their child. But there is nothing they can do about it.

Because you believe you have done the right thing by installing a camera to prevent just such a thing from happening, and because you have been for years using it successfully, you back up secure in the knowledge there is nothing behind you.

You run over and kill the child in front of its parents anyway.

That is how accidents happen.

My advice? LOOK BEHIND YOU BEFORE BACKING UP! Look REAL good. Both ways. If there is an obstruction back up SLOWLY as though a child might run out from behind it.

Because someday it might.

Damn dude....so harsh!

But I couldn't agree with you more.

[bronsin]

The premise of the back up camera is completely false. If the driver is not vigilant enough to look behind them WITHOUT the camera after a while they will cease to look at the camera antways.

Because the OP was thoughtfull enough to install such a camera he probably doesnt fall into the catagory of those who thoughtlessly back up unaware of the consequences of not doing so faithfully.

But that camera could be a trap!

[Billiam]

Originally Posted by bronsin

But that camera could be a trap!

It was originally developed for vehicles that truly needed it...i.e. large motor homes, cargo vans, etc., where rearward visibility is near zero. But somehow it's trickled its way down to the common automobile.

[Billiam]

Originally Posted by caineroad

hello

i bought a reverse camera, it comes with a + and - connection, is the reverse light the best option to do it?

which wire is it?

thanks!

I don't know what kind of power you can pull off that circuit, but it does appear that some folks are powering their cameras that way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSbU8...eature=related

On my U.S. spec '10 Liftback the positive reverse light power is red with a blue stripe.

[why?]

as usual bronsin goes way overboard, taking a situation that is going to happen to 1/10th of 1% of the population at the most and decides that minute possibility is enough to decide a good product is worthless.

Sorry, but that is just total bs. A fantasyland story that has probably never happened and never will.

A backup camera will not make someone a reckless driver. Being a bad driver is a choice.

[SAV912]

Originally Posted by why?

as usual bronsin goes way overboard, taking a situation that is going to happen to 1/10th of 1% of the population at the most and decides that minute possibility is enough to decide a good product is worthless.

Sorry, but that is just total bs. A fantasyland story that has probably never happened and never will.

A backup camera will not make someone a reckless driver. Being a bad driver is a choice.

I wouldn't say it will NEVER happen, but I'll agree that Bronsin is up to his usual tin foil hattery by posting a wall of text full of potential fear. Potential being the key word.

OP, the positive power to reverse lights is a red wire with blue stripe, like previously mentioned. There should be enough power there to activate the camera. I'm sure CTScott could verify if you'd like to PM him.

-C

[bronsin]

The good new is Ive never had an accident. Not in 35 years. That includes 300,000 miles worth of motorcycleing. Also I flew airplanes for ten years without bending anything.

I wasnt even INVOLVED in an accident although the others motorists on the road did their best to cause one.

And you?

[SAV912]

Originally Posted by bronsin

The good new is Ive never had an accident. Not in 35 years. That includes 300,000 miles worth of motorcycleing. Also I flew airplanes for ten years without bending anything.

I wasnt even INVOLVED in an accident although the others motorists on the road did their best to cause one.

And you?

Been in three, one being my fault. Probably still enjoy driving more than constant paranoia to maintain my driving record like you though.

Congratulations on Lady Luck being on your side for 35 years, but that was no reason to fly off the handle at the OP the way you did. He already has the camera and intends on installing it; I doubt your perception of how the general public drives is going to make him change his mind.

-C

[caineroad]

Put your assumption and anger elsewhere please. You guys have gone way out of topic

I never said I will rely on the camera. The reason why I want to install it, is because I live in downtown. When I am doing parallel parking in tight spaces, it is very hard to tell how far I am away from the car behind. I want to use it so I can park closer to the car behind me based on the parking sitation at that time. The angle of the camera is pointed towards the rear bumper.

Anyway, i found the wire and have installed it today. Working very good.

[SAV912]

Originally Posted by caineroad

Put your assumption and anger elsewhere please. You guys have gone way out of topic

I never said I will rely on the camera. The reason why I want to install it, is because I live in downtown. When I am doing parallel parking in tight spaces, it is very hard to tell how far I am away from the car behind. I want to use it so I can park closer to the car behind me based on the parking sitation at that time. The angle of the camera is pointed towards the rear bumper.

Anyway, i found the wire and have installed it today. Working very good.

Where does it display? Do you have a different headunit or is the display somewhere else all together? I would like to see some pictures because I agree that it's difficult to judge where the ass of the car is sometimes.

I've found that I think I'm right on top of something sometimes and then get out of the car and see that I have a good 8-10 feet of extra space. Something like this would probably help that.

-C

[caineroad]

Originally Posted by SAV912

Where does it display? Do you have a different headunit or is the display somewhere else all together? I would like to see some pictures because I agree that it's difficult to judge where the ass of the car is sometimes.

I've found that I think I'm right on top of something sometimes and then get out of the car and see that I have a good 8-10 feet of extra space. Something like this would probably help that.

-C

It is displaying in my head unit, the one a lot of people have purchased. It does not automatically go into camera mode when reversing though, have to manually click the little icon on the screen. I mounted the camera underneath the rear brake light housing. I will post up some pictures, it's pretty neat but the camera is not the best for my application. The infra-red is contant on behind tinted windows so it's always a bit too bright in some areas.

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by SAV912

Congratulations on Lady Luck being on your side for 35 years, but that was no reason to fly off the handle at the OP the way you did. He already has the camera and intends on installing it; I doubt your perception of how the general public drives is going to make him change his mind.

-C

I ride a motorcycle and fly airplanes and have learned whatever mistakes others make to never "fly off the handle". You have precious seconds to react to a life threatening situation and anger reduces or eliminates much of that.

Also riding a motorcycle teaches you 99% of the "safety" engineering like traction control, ABS brakes, and yes, back up cameras is total BS when it comes to improving safety. They do absolutely NOTHING for you. Safety begins and ends in your head. In fact German research has determined ABS brakes actually make things worse slightly because drivers think they are superman when they have it and drive more aggressively. Backup cameras (in something like a Yaris with excellent rear visibility) dont give you anywhere near the field of view and predispose you to think "Im safe because I have a camera and cant hurt anybody".

Go back and read my post without your prejudice. If you want to prevent injury to others backing up your Yaris LOOK BEHIND YOU before backing up. That is the best way to keep from hitting something.

Ive got some more advice DONT back up whenever possible. Park so you can go forward without needing to reverse. You are much more vulnerable to not seeing another car, person, etc when you back up.

[why?]

Originally Posted by bronsin

I ride a motorcycle and fly airplanes and have learned whatever mistakes others make to never "fly off the handle". You have precious seconds to react to a life threatening situation and anger reduces or eliminates much of that.

Also riding a motorcycle teaches you 99% of the "safety" engineering like traction control, ABS brakes, and yes, back up cameras is total BS when it comes to improving safety. They do absolutely NOTHING for you. Safety begins and ends in your head. In fact German research has determined ABS brakes actually make things worse slightly because drivers think they are superman when they have it and drive more aggressively. Backup cameras (in something like a Yaris with excellent rear visibility) dont give you anywhere near the field of view and predispose you to think "Im safe because I have a camera and cant hurt anybody".

Go back and read my post without your prejudice. If you want to prevent injury to others backing up your Yaris LOOK BEHIND YOU before backing up. That is the best way to keep from hitting something.

Ive got some more advice DONT back up whenever possible. Park so you can go forward without needing to reverse. You are much more vulnerable to not seeing another car, person, etc when you back up.

wow it is like you are totally clueless. Perhaps try reading the thread instead of making totally absurd wild assumptions about people?

[Billiam]

Originally Posted by bronsin

Ive got some more advice DONT back up whenever possible. Park so you can go forward without needing to reverse. You are much more vulnerable to not seeing another car, person, etc when you back up.

Actually...there is some truth in this statement. Mail carriers in my town are forbidden from backing up under all situations except for dire emergencies. I had a neighbor who would park too close to my mailbox from time to time and I would not get mail on those days. I talked to the carrier about it once and he said if he tried to squeeze in it would require him to back up to get out and that was against their policy. I even called one of our local post offices one day to address some wrong mail that had been delivered and asked the supervisor about that policy and he confirmed it. Apparently the vast majority of self-accused accidents and/or property damage was attributed to backing up.

[bronsin]

I got it all figgered out.

Mostly.