I recently failed my driving test because I was slightly too slow backing out of my parking spot. My driving is fine overall and when I looked at the examiner's score sheet after my test, I had lost 0 points for the driving portion where I drove around on the roads by the DMV. For the test, I was using the car from a driving school, and I had some trouble seeing out of the back window, which made backing up quite uncomfortable. I'm not a very tall person and the rear window was partially blocked by seats.
My boyfriend recently got a 2014 Honda Civic, which I'll be using for my next exam and the Civic has a large rearview camera that shows the area straight behind the vehicle, as well as the areas slightly to the side of that. It has helped me a lot with backing up and being able to see behind the car.
I'm wondering, though, how much should I rely on the rearview camera? As it's a safety feature, I imagine using it won't immediately make me fail my driving test, but I understand that I might not be able to see people or cars that are in my car's blind spots. Would it be acceptable if I checked the blind spots and then used the rearview camera to back out, while intermittently checking the blind spots and the rearview mirror?
I can't imagine that I would not be allowed to use such a camera considering that it is a feature that the internet tells me will be required by 2018.