Side view cameras

[Cricketdaddy]

Our new Sea Breeze has side view cameras which switch on automatically when you flip on a turn indicator. It's a neat toy, I guess. Gives you a nice, but weird perspective, of the side of your rig to aid in lane changes. I know this is pretty standard on new motor homes these days but I frankly just find it a distraction. I check both mirrors on the side I'm preparing to move very carefully. Averting my eyes to also check the camera requires a perspective brain adjustment and by the time I'm ready to move a small car or motorcycle could easily have moved into a blind spot. Or, so I fear. Plus, the cameras take about three seconds to come on and go off.

Maybe I'm not doing it right. Anybody have any tips or do you all find these cameras to be distracting?

Thanks!

Dave

 

[Shayne]

That certainly would have come in handy one cold and miserable Day on the road when the passenger mirror on the MH decided to crack and fall off on the interstate and I was in the passing lane. Then had to drive thru  St Louis on Sat nite returning home.  Didn't care for that situation one bit.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I think they are more useful in low speed maneuvering, e.g. camp sites and such, than on the highway.  However, I test drove a new Holiday Rambler that had them and they switched on a bit quicker than yours, as I recall. Still was a bit of a delay, though. I did not find them distracting, but that would depend on the position of the monitor, I guess.

In my current coach (no side cameras) , I leave the Sony color wide angle rear camera on all the time because it provides a  sharp, 170 degree view across the rear of the coach and well back down the road - great for assessing who is back by the toad. It doesn't bother me and I always use the mirrors first when changing lanes. The monitor is a secondary view that I check if conditions require it.

 

[Boyd]

I have a 2007 Knight and the cameras work great. They really help when traffice is heavy. I hope you wait more than 3 seconds before changing lanes. I takes that long for someone next to you to realize you are going to change lanes. Yes they take some getting used to but after a while you learn to check before looking in the mirror. The mirror should be the last look. Just my thoughts.

 

[Cricketdaddy]

Boyd, it's a great point. It's still new to me and I need to give those side view cameras a little time to become useful and comfortable.

And you're right, I certainly don't change lanes within three seconds of giving a signal. It's just that the view on the monitor is so drastically different from the rear view camera I'm used to seeing and the view from the mirrors. I just need to get used to it.

When we bought the rig just a month ago we went to a driving seminar where the instructor sort of snorted disdainfully about the side view cameras. I gather he was an old MH vet who didn't see any value in them. You've helped me keep an open mind.

Dave

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Dave,
If you are like me you look around before you make the decision to change lanes and put the turn signal on after the decision is made. Turning the signal on s sort of a mental checkpoint that says "I've checked and it's OK to change lanes now".  You might try thinking of the turn signal as "I WANT to change lanes and am looking to do so at my earliest opportunity" and turn it on as an early step in looking around and then proceed to check mirrors, etc. That way the camera will be on by the time you want to double check close into the sides.  The drawback to this is that you lose the rear view when the side comes on, so you have to check the rear before doing so. And might need to check it again later before committing to the change.

I have a triple mirror stack and keep the smallest convex mirror oriented to watch the sides close in. With that I don't feel a real need for a side view camera in traffic.  If I had one I would like to use it when backing into narrow or cluttered camp sites, tho. That's perhaps because I am fairly aggressive about my choice of sites - I'm willing to squeeze a bit to get into a site with a great view or lots of privacy.

 

[Cricketdaddy]

Tom, and all --

Yeah, great advice. I don't want to give anybody the impression I'm a careless driver. I haven't had a ticket in more than thirty years. I just find the side-cameras view a little disconcerting because I'm not used to it. I will take the advice, signal, check the camera view, check both mirrors and move carefully.

;D

 

[Shayne]

Dave  Once you get used to them, you'll wonder how in the world you ever got by without them.  Same as a Rear view Camera.  Dock lights  were the same to me until the later one didn't have them.

 

[Tom]

Tom, and all --

Not me; I don't have experience with side view cameras and so didn't comment.

 

[Cricketdaddy]

Oops! Meant "Gary."