A man says a customer’s bargain backup camera made everything behind the car look much closer than it really was.
TikTok user @fuegourbanotvofficial, whose bio says the account reposts videos daily, shared a clip of a man testing a backup camera that had apparently been purchased from Temu.
“POV: Your customer installed a back up camera from TEMU,” the original poster wrote in the text overlay.
“Customer states that their backup camera isn’t working properly,” the man recording says. “Looks good to me.”
At first, it almost does.
The video shows him reversing toward another car parked behind him on the street. On the camera display, the other vehicle appears to be only a few feet away—close enough that most drivers would probably stop.
Then he gets out.
What looked like a near miss on the screen was actually nowhere close. Once outside, he shows the real gap between the two cars, and there appears to be enough room for at least two more parking spaces. As of this writing, the clip @fuegourbanotvofficial reposted had more than 2.8 million views.
Why Can Backup Cameras Make Distance Look Weird?
Backup cameras are supposed to help drivers see what’s directly behind them, but, as silly as it sounds, not all are created equal.
Federal rules require new vehicles to have a rearview image that expands drivers’ field of view behind the car. According to a 2014 report, the rule was put in place to reduce crash fatalities; backup cameras must also meet requirements for image size, linger time, response time, durability, and activation.
That wide view is useful, but it can also change how objects look on screen. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has noted that camera-based rearview systems can show a considerably wider field of view than a conventional mirror. The wider the view, the more the image can differ from what a driver would see looking straight back.
Modern factory systems are tested around that problem. NHTSA’s rearview-camera procedure checks things like field of view and whether the display uses overlays such as parking guidelines or projected paths.
The system in this video appears to be an aftermarket camera, though. NHTSA’s rear-visibility standard applies to vehicles made after a certain year; aftermarket equipment does not necessarily go through the same vehicle-certification process.
And even a good camera is never meant to be a substitute for checking your surroundings.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says rearview cameras substantially expand what drivers can see behind a vehicle, but they don’t prevent every backing crash. In one IIHS study, cameras cut police-reported backing crashes by about 16%.
Gallery: All new cars sold in U.S. will have a standard rearview camera by 2018
‘Me With My Depth Perception Issues’
Some viewers thought the camera was doing its job: making the car behind it look much closer than it really was.
“You definitely not going to hit a car with this camera,” one person quipped.
Another said they agreed with the driver who brought the camera in and suggested there was a problem to begin with.
“Customer may be right,” they wrote.
For anyone who already struggles to judge distance, the setup looked especially rough.
“Me with my depth perception issues,” one viewer wrote.
Another joked, “OBJECTS IN CAMERA ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR.”
But plenty of viewers weren’t convinced the camera was actually the problem.
One commenter pointed to background details and argued that the video itself may have been misleading.
“The backup camera shows the sign on the grass in its entirety, completely unobstructed by that metal post. Only possible if the car is actually close, like the camera shows. Good editing though,” they said.
Another noticed something similar in the way the clip was put together.
“He makes a video cut when he opens the door,” the viewer wrote.
And one viewer suggested the camera may simply have been displaying the scene differently than expected.
“My backup camera shows everything on the opposite side that is actually on,” another commenter added.
Motor1 contacted @fuegourbanotvofficial via TikTok direct message. We’ll be sure to update this if he responds. Temu declined to provide an official comment.
