Automobile Driver Warning Systems

Crash-Avoidance Technology

The term crash-avoidance technology refers to motorized-vehicle equipment that includes numerous features such as adaptive headlights that improve night vision around corners and curves, forward collision warning systems, backup warning systems, emergency brake assistance, lane departure warnings, and blind spot detection.

Already in use in Europe, crash-avoidance technology debuted in the United States in 2007, when Volvo, Lexus, Mercedes, and other automobile manufacturers pioneered its use. Ford used technologies, including Driver Alert, Lane Keeping Alert, and Lane Keeping Aid, in its 2013 Explorer. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) identified 68 vehicle models that featured lane departure warning, forward collision warning, or both, in the 2012 model year, an increase from just 45 vehicle models in the 2011 model year.

Forward collision warning systems use sensors like cameras, radar, or a technology called Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) to pinpoint potential rear-end or head-on collisions. Some systems have automatic braking. Volkswagen used Front Assist on the 2011 Touareg and in 2012 it introduced Proactive Occupant Protection, which closes windows and retracts safety belts to remove excess slack if the system detects potential for a forward crash.

Backup Warning Systems

The safety advocacy group Kids and Cars estimates that every week in the United States two children are killed and 48 are seriously injured simply because a backing driver did not see them. Most back-over accidents happen in residential driveways or parking lots and more than three-quarters of the time a parent or a close relative is behind the wheel. Back-over accidents are so commonplace because every vehicle has a rear blind area that can'st be seen from the driver's seat. Passenger cars have a range of blind zones, depending on the size of the car and the drivers, but the blind zones behind larger, popular vehicles are uniformly large. The blind zone behind a minivan is about 25 feet and the area increases to 50 feet behind some pickup trucks.

Backup warning systems can use radar or ultrasonic transmitters and receivers, beepers, and computer systems facing to the rear of the vehicle to detect objects in its path; however, backup warning systems containing cameras that are installed within the vehicle itself work better and are widely available from several competing electronics manufacturers. With a camera system, when a driver shifts into reverse, the screen shows a wide-angle view of the rear, a view superior to the one seen through windows and mirrors.

Newer vehicles can be purchased with backup warning systems, often custom made, but drivers with older model vehicles can also have backup warning systems installed. Aftermarket cameras, that is, cameras that did not originally come with the vehicle, can be incorporated into the navigation systems of vehicles. The aftermarket camera system typically use a video screen built into a replacement rearview mirror, an added monitor for the existing mirror, or a flat screen that mounts to the inside of the sun visor.

...