WASHINGTON - The National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) expects automakers to install rear-mounted video camera and in-vehicle displays starting in 2012 to comply with a new regulation proposed Dec. 3 by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The proposal, issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), would expand the required field of view for all passenger cars, pickup trucks, minivans, buses and low-speed vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of up to 10,000 lbs. so that drivers can see directly behind the vehicle when the vehicle's transmission is in reverse.

The proposed rule was required by Congress as part of the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007, named after two-year old Cameron Gulbransen, who was killed when his father accidentally backed over him in the family's driveway.

To meet the requirements of the proposed rule, ten percent of new vehicles must comply by Sept. 2012, 40 percent by Sept. 2013 and 100 percent by Sept. 2014.

NHTSA estimates that, on average, 292 fatalities and 18,000 injuries occur each year as a result of back-over crashes involving all vehicles. Of these, 228 fatalities involve light vehicles weighing 10,000 lbs/ or less.