NHTSA Complaint #10700970 — 2015 GMC YUKON

MY NEW, 2015 GMC DENALI IS EQUIPPED WITH A BACKUP CAMERA AND THE QUALITY IS SO POOR AT NIGHT, AS TO MAKE IT NEARLY MORE DANGEROUS TO USE THAN TO IGNORE IT. I HAVE HAD 3 PRIOR GMC DENALI AUTOMOBILES. THE MOST RECENT WAS A 2011 WHICH WAS TRADED IN FOR THIS NEW ONE. THE QUALITY OF THE BACKUP CAMERA IN THE 2011 MODEL WAS EXCELLENT. MY WIFE AND I IMMEDIATELY NOTED ON THE NEW CAR THAT THE CAMERA IMAGE WAS SO BLURRY AND POOR RESOLUTION AT NIGHT, WE COULD NOT SAFELY USE THE CAMERA TO BACK OUT OF OUR GATED DRIVEWAY. IN THE DAYTIME, THE IMAGE IS BLURRY AS WELL, BUT USABLE. GMC HAS HAD THE CAR TWICE FOR SERVICE AND WE HAVE COMPLAINED TO GMC CORPORATE AND ALL WE GET IS A STATEMENT THAT THE "SYSTEM IS WORKING NORMALLY" WHICH IS DIFFICULT TO ACCEPT. THE NHTSA'S OWN STATISTICS SHOW THAT EACH YEAR APPROX. 20 PEOPLE DIE AND 15,000 ARE INJURED DUE TO BACKUP INCIDENTS. THEIR GUIDELINES STATE A CAMERA NEEDS TO DISPLAY (CLEARLY I WOULD ASSUME) A 10 X 20 FOOT ZONE BEHIND THE VEHICLE. AT NIGHT, YOU CANNOT SEE 20 FEET CLEARLY BEHIND THIS VEHICLE, EVEN IN A WELL LIGHTED STREET. I AM CONVINCED THAT THIS POOR QUALITY SYSTEM IS GOING TO CAUSE ACCIDENTS IF IT HAS NOT DONE SO ALREADY. GMC HAS AN OBLIGATION TO ADDRESS WHAT I BELIEVE IS A SUB-STANDARD QUALITY IMAGE. THEY CANNOT DEFEND THE FACT THAT THE IMAGE IS MUCH WORSE THAN OLDER MODELS OF THEIR VEHICLES. FORTUNATELY, THE NEW DENALI MODEL DOES HAVE A SENSOR SYSTEM THAT PROVIDES A VIBRATORY WARNING IF YOU ARE ABOUT TO CONTACT AN OBJECT, BUT OBVIOUSLY THE DRIVER NEEDS TO SEE CLEARLY BEHIND THEM, BEFORE THEY ARE ABOUT TO STRIKE AN OBJECT IN THEIR PATH. I AM HOPING YOUR AGENCY CAN CONTACT GMC TO HELP MOTIVATE THEM TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE AND IMPROVE THE SAFETY OF THEIR VEHICLE(S) BEFORE THE DEFECT CONTRIBUTES TO AN UNNECESSARY INJURY OR DEATH. IN THE MEANTIME, WE DO NOT USE THE SCREEN IMAGE AT NIGHT. THANK YOU. *TR