How can backup beeps possibly be safe, let alone be safety features?

Backup beeps are painful, disorienting, and often incapacitating.

I once collapsed, to the ground, unable to crawl, let alone walk away, under the sensory assault from backup beeps somewhere far on the other side of the road. I have tried earplugs and ear protectors, with mixed success against other noises, but no success against backup beeps.

I understand that backup beeps are intended to warn people. But what good is a warning device which is so painful can disorient and even incapacitate people? what good is a warning device which inflicts so much pain that people want to die to escape the infernal stabbing beeping pain?

If you want to save lives, it'd be better to have more observers and better fields of view, instead of too few observers, restricted fields of view, and people disoriented and/or collapsed around dangerous equipment.