Six years ago, Congress mandated auto safety regulators to pass a federal standard by 2011 that would help keep drivers from running over small children as they backed up their vehicles.

On Monday, after three years of repeated delays and a lawsuit, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced the new rule: By May 2018, all new cars and light trucks must be equipped with rearview cameras.

"We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable victims of backover accidents - our children and seniors," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement.

The announcement came one day before a federal appeals court was scheduled to hear arguments in a lawsuit filed in September by a consortium of safety groups over the delays and one day before a House panel will ask the safety agency's acting administrator why it did not investigate ignition switch flaws with General Motors cars.

Consumer advocates and safety experts praised the announcement, though they said it should have come sooner.

By: DocMemory
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