About

The mission

Our mission is to get laws enacted in Western Australia that mandate phasing out reverse beep alarms.

The state’s own guidance already says broadband alarms are the better reversing alarm, and that Western Australian law does not require the beep. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety note that broadband alarms are easier to locate, have a more uniform sound field without dead spots, and are less likely to draw noise complaints. Occupational safety law does not require tonal reversing alarms, and there is no Western Australian law that says an audible reversing alarm must be tonal.

Audible reversing alarms: considerations for use (Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, September 2019).

What's wrong with the beep?

The standard backup beeper is fatiguing.

A review of OSHA accident records found that a standard backup alarm failed to prevent two-thirds of the backover accidents analyzed.

Holzman, “Vehicle Motion Alarms: Necessity, Noise Pollution, or Both?,” Environmental Health Perspectives (2011), citing Purswell and Purswell’s 2001 review of OSHA investigation records.

Acoustic design flaw

Traditional backup alarms focus 100% of their acoustic energy into a single, razor-sharp frequency spike — usually around 1,000 Hz.

Extreme dead zones

Sound levels vary by as much as 20 dB over distances as short as 6 inches — meaning you can be standing right next to a reversing vehicle and hear nothing.

Cry-wolf effect: backup beepers are so common their warnings lose authority. Studies show preschoolers show zero avoidance behaviour when a beeping vehicle reverses toward them.

Beyond the alarm entirely

The technology exists. The law allows it. Industry just hasn't caught up.

Vehicles with reversing cameras are 41% less likely to be involved in a back-over crash.

Keall, Fildes, and Newstead, “Real-world evaluation of the effectiveness of reversing camera and parking sensor technologies in preventing backover pedestrian injuries,” Accident Analysis & Prevention (2017). Monash University Accident Research Centre.