SMaL ACM100 automotive camera

SMaL Camera Technologies have announced the ACM100, a device that they claim is the first camera "completely and specifically designed for automotive vision systems".  While it's a little unclear how this camera will be used (aside from the obvious rear-view mirror replacement), it has been picked up by a major automotive manufacturer to be named at a later date. The camera system promotes passenger and driver safety with lane departure warnings, night vision, and collision intervention. 
There's clearly something going on in the automotive safety industry right now with imaging and protection technologies, like the Denso and
Toyota systems we reported on earlier. 
One serious question, though: are these systems distracting or helpful?