The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT)has proposed a new safety regulation designed to help prevent fatalities and injuries to pedestrians -- especially young children and the elderly -- in low-speed back-up accidents.  The new regulation would help eliminate blind zones behind vehicles that can hide the presence of pedestrians by expanding the required field of view for all passenger cars, pickup trucks, minivans, buses, and other vehicles, enabling drivers to see directly behind the vehicle when in reverse.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which issued the regulation, is providing a 60-day comment period on this rulemaking that begins when the proposal is published in the Federal Register.