Which to choose - parking sensors or reversing cameras?

Parking is often regarded as one of the trickiest bits of modern driving, but it’s a particular skill that we’ll all have to practice every time we get behind the wheel. Even many of the most experienced drivers, with decades of driving behind them, can still find it occasionally difficult to navigate into those tight spaces. But in the age of ever-evolving in-car technology, today there are happily all sorts of parking assists that you can choose to make it that much easier. Parking sensors and reversing cameras are some of the most popular examples of this technology - but which one should you choose for your car?

Why are parking sensors so useful?

While the complexity of the technology itself can vary, the principle behind parking sensors is fairly simple. The most common type of parking sensors are ultrasound parking sensors, which work on the same principle as naval sonar devices (and dolphins, come to that). Basically, the emit a high-frequency pulse - too high for the human ear to detect - and then measure how long it takes for that frequency to bounce back, using the time lapse to work out the distance to the obstruction. If an object is judged to be close enough to pose an obstruction, the sensors will sound a beeping alarm in the cabin, growing faster and more urgent the closer the car gets to the object.

Since parking sensors can often pick up obstructions that might not always be visible from the mirrors, they can be undeniably helpful, especially in busy places like supermarket car parks and residential streets where vision might be particularly restricted. It’s for these reasons - and more - that they’re already becoming a popular feature on many larger cars. However, they do have their limitations, and this is where reversing cameras can come in useful.

How can reversing cameras help?

One of the few drawbacks of parking sensors is that they’re only able to convey a limited amount of information to the driver. They can tell you there’s something in the way, and your proximity to it. However, they can’t tell you the nature of the obstruction, whether or not it’s in motion, and if so, what direction it’s moving. All of this might not sound that important when navigating around familiar bollards in your regular supermarket car park, but where small children, cyclists or excitable pets are concerned, they all become extremely important details!

Reversing cameras give you an extra electronic eye in the back of your vehicle, so you’re able to see for yourself what’s behind you, and accurately judge how to proceed safely. You can find a detailed explanation of how reversing cameras work in this previous post of ours, but in short: when you put the vehicle in reverse, the camera activates itself, and connects itself to a screen on your dashboard so you can see exactly what’s behind. You’ll be able to see what’s moving away, and also have a much better chance of stopping in time if something starts to move out behind you. 

Reversing cameras also provide valuable additional functionality; the screen displays can feature overlays that help you to achieve the desired angle as you reverse, so you can accurately maintain your trajectory and steer yourself around obstacles. It’s a function that’s especially helpful for newer drivers, but can be similarly useful even to those with years of experience behind them.

So, which should you choose? Well really, depending on the size and capabilities of your vehicle, there’s nothing to stop you from having both. Some people view this as overkill, but reversing accidents accounting for a surprising number of British road accidents each year, there’s no such thing as being too safe. Parking sensors are never a bad investment, but if you’re able to we’d always recommend opting for a reversing camera too. 

We stock a fantastic range of both of them here at Car Communications, so whichever one you choose, you can count on us to be able to provide something that suits your vehicle down to the ground. We’ve got a fantastic range of them right here at Car Communications, suitable for a wide variety of vehicles from Toyotas to Mercedes-Benz. Why not take a look at our range of parking cameras and reversing sensors for yourself, and see what you can find?