> Unless ya'll have some truly high end cars I don't see how anyone can confidently back up with just a camera and not fear hitting objects/children etc.

If I look backward I wouldn't see a small child right behind my vehicle. The parking sensors and backup camera would, though. That's why I feel like it's weird to look backward instead of looking at the video feed from the wide-angle camera.

I don't mean that I look backwards the whole time. I mainly look at the camera, but at the same time I'm glancing around checking mirrors and looking out of the windows for hazards. I've watched some people just stare down into a camera and then be surprised when they nearly hit a truck that was coming down the parking lot not yet visible in the camera.

That's why many cars include also a radar that detects and alerts you of approaching traffic from the sides before it comes into view - both camera and the driver (the blind spots when reversing are large).

E.g. Mazda 3 has that - if it detects a vehicle or even a pedestrian approaching from the side while reversing, it starts beeping and showing orange chevrons on the camera screen to alert me.

Obviously, this doesn't remove the need to look around and not rely only the sensors and cameras. The tech may fail and the ultimate responsibility is with the driver.

No, but you might see a child walking or running in from the side

My camera has a very wide angle, and is 10 feet behind where I am (and can see around bushes/cars that I can't). There are definitely times that I can see things the camera can't see, but I feel like the balance is that the camera can see more.

Which is where the utility of backup cameras comes from. It's nearly impossible, at least impractical, to design a car that holds human beings with a rear view that could provide the same field of view as a camera. Even if the back of the car was a giant pane of glass just having a trunk or back seat will occult the driver's rear view such they could miss a curb, pet, or small child. Even a shitty camera will give a better view than most cars' actual rear view from the driver's seat. They're even more useful when you consider they better enable shorter or taller drivers that don't have the ideal view out the back of the car.

I check blind spots I know my camera has but then use the camera to actually back up because it's got a far better view from the back of my car than I do from the front seat.

I mean, do both? Surely as a driver we should be using all the information we can get to drive safely. When I'm reversing I'll look around, get in position to reverse, and alternate between side mirrors, looking around, and the reversing cam.

Might be a side effect of how we're taught in the UK, but we were always told we should keep glancing in our mirrors whilst driving so it seems natural to me at least.

Turning my head quickly to pivot between the video screen and the back (and the back left) makes me feel like I'm being less safe than if I just looked straight at the video or possibly straight backward.

In most cases, I do an initial sweep, then use my camera. If I'm backing from between two vehicles, I check the camera, then turn around and keep an eye for anyone coming from either side. The fisheye on the backup camera helps a lot, but it's not going to show the idiot going 20 mph through the parking lot until it's too late.