When reversing was still easy
08/01/2023
Have you recently watched a driver in a modern passenger car reversing or parking in reverse? It's not easy for today's drivers to decide exactly where to look when reversing. The rear camera displays the world behind the car on the screen in the center console. Then there are the messages/signals from the distance warning system and yes, you can also look through the (increasingly smaller) rear window. All this means that the driver has to constantly look in different directions, shifting his attention from the rear to the center console and back again so as not to miss anything. This is not efficient and most drivers are therefore correspondingly cautious.
The lack of clarity of the bodywork further exacerbates the problem.
How easy it was 60 years ago. Let's take an open Jaguar XK120 or an MGA as an example. You simply looked to the rear when reversing and were able to maneuver the car into a parking space at considerable speed. Nothing distracted you, everything was in your field of vision.
The same can be said for a closed Peugeot 404 or a BMW 3-series (e.g. E30), but open-top convertibles naturally offered the best visual comfort back then.
Not everything has improved since then, but that won't surprise our readers ...
