Most vehicles fitted with navigation systems have some sort of disclaimer about how one shouldn't use the navigation system while driving. A smaller percentage of cars also have warnings about their backup cameras. OK, sure, I understand that we live in a litigious society and there is a subsequent need for such things. But the warning that pops up for our 2010 Volvo XC60's review camera display is particularly annoying.
Put the XC60 into reverse and the camera's view pops up on the navigation screen. But the top one-fourth of the display is taken up by a legal disclaimer. This text blocks the camera's view of what's about to come into to the Volvo's path. You can still see what's directly behind you, so it's not all bad. But for parking-lot situations where you are wondering if a car is coming down a lane, it's just about worthless.
The warning goes away after about 5 seconds, and it only comes up the first time you put the Volvo in reverse. But the first 5 seconds is exactly when most people are actually planning on backing up, and typically you're only putting a car in reverse one time for any given trip. The solution to all this is to just wait for the warning to go away or just not bother using the camera at all. But overall I've found this issue to be the most annoying on a day-to-day basis for our long-term XC60.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor @ 7,545 miles
mrryte says:
06:51 AM, 11/30/09
"This text blocks the camera's view of what's about to come into to the Volvo's path."
Wouldn't it be ironic if this very same warning was the cause of an accident...
hybris says:
08:00 AM, 11/30/09
@mrryte
If that happened I would laugh for a 1000 years.
jriz says:
11:43 AM, 11/30/09
Word Brent.
Let's put a legal warning in the precise place where something you're about to run into inhabits. They should put a legal warning under the legal warning to warn about the legal warning. Eventually, the entire screen will be taken up by legalese.
vt8919 says:
07:56 PM, 11/30/09
"Warning! The following warning you are about to see is about the warning on the top one-fourth of the screen..."
zoomzoom22 says:
11:53 PM, 11/30/09
Oh man, what did we all do before the backup camera? Besides, you can sort of still see through the text. At least the background is somewhat translucent.
Call me old fashioned, but no one should have to rely on a backup camera at all to backup safely.