brake
Latest
BMW left turn assistant uses lasers to help you avoid running people over
BMW continues to fight the good fight: making sure you hit fewer people with its luxury vehicles. The German automaker is developing a vehicle warning system aimed at curbing collisions caused by drivers making left turns -- a leading cause of accidents and motorcycle fatalities. The system, which can be enabled for vehicles making left or U-turns while traveling under 10mph, detects movements using the vehicle's navigation system and a single camera. Once a left turn is recognized, three lasers are used to scan for hazards up to 328-feet away -- if one is detected, the car will automatically brake and throw up corresponding alerts for the driver. The company is set to show off the system as part of INTERSAFE 2, this week in Wolfsburg, Germany. In the meantime, the rest of us will have to rely on things like mirrors and looking over our shoulders.
Lexus LS600hL's face detection camera, warning system get spied
Face detection on your average digicam may not seem that special, but strapping the feature atop your steering column can certainly make for a more enjoyable (and safer) driving experience. Lexus' new LS600hL sports a Driver Monitoring System, which places a detection device in front of the driver's seat that keeps a close eye on the orientation of the his / her face, and if it sees that you're peering off at the continually changing MINI billboard or checking out the overhead wind energy producer, it kicks into action. The system will send audible and visual alerts at first in an attempt to get your attention back, and can eventually "apply the brakes on its own" if the previous warnings prove futile. Moreover, it can reportedly "reprogram the steering ratio and amplify the intensity and quickness of the steering response" to keep motorists safe, but there's no word on whether or not a retinal scanner add-on will be available to automatically adjust user preferences depending on which driver hops in the seat. Click on through for another snapshot.
