There have been thousands of people killed & maimed by agriculture / farm equipment for the want of these devices.. Countless accidents have prevented by back-up alarms. These alarms are not crap.
If you read the safety instructions , which you obviously did not you would have seen a passage regarding SAFE DISTANCES from the machine.
A mower / snow blower is not a piece of equipment designed to be used in a crowded space , like say a sweeper or tow motor where reverse alarms are manditory.
The manufactureres are not responsible for the enviroment that the purchaser will use the equipment so they allow YOU to decide if extra safety features are required which is a very responsible thing to do.
It makes the person who SHOULD be responsible for the safety of themselves and those around them TAKE this responsibility which is GOOD.
Idiot proof equipment gets used by idiots.
And as a firm believer in evolution, people who stand behind / walk behind operating equipment deserve to be run down and if they have their face buried in their electronic brain replacement while wearing noise cancelling ear plugs they deserver to be badly injured.
Thus every day when they put their foot on the floor and the pain rushed up to their brain they will remember that they and they alone are responsible for their own personal safety.
There is a bill currently before our parliament to absolve the person in charge of a piece of equipment ( including cars & bikes ) that collides with a pedestrian who has their attention diverted by an electronic devise from blame.
Thus if a mental throw back to the apes walks across the road and gets wiped out by a car , tough luck, no insurance cover for them and they will become liable to compensate the driver for damage to their vehicle.
I am over 60 and I can still remember being taught STOP LOOK & LISTEN, something which apparently is now beyond the mental capacity of the mental retards being born into the world now days.