Chances are you have seen the television commercials in which the driver of a car drifts into a different lane and the car either auto corrects or beeps to make the driver aware of the lane change. This is called lane departure technology or lane departure warning (LDW) systems. The alerts can sound if you get too close to a vehicle or leave your lane. Depending on the vehicle manufacturer, the vehicle will sound a warning or cause a vibration in the seat or steering wheel.

There are also lane departure prevention systems and these devices will sound a warning but leave corrective actions up to the driver. The LDW will gently steer the car to correct for the lane departure.

The benefits of LDW are that it is estimated to have the potential to reduce fatalities due to lane departure head on crashes by close to 50 percent. The real world data is limited and hasn’t yet shown the life-saving potential to be as high as the estimated 50 percent.

Lane departure technology is being developed because lane departure crashes are the most common cause of accidents. This type of car crash accounts for close to 2 million of the collisions annually and the LDW will alert the driver to the potential for a crash and offer him a chance to correct and potentially avoid the accident.

A study found that 85 percent of drivers that used the technology said they found it useful and more than 90 percent said they used the system most of the time and close to 80 percent of the individuals who used the technology said they felt it increased their safety while on the road.

Some of the technical terms associated with lane departure technology include:

  • Lane keep assist (LKA) lets the driver decide whether to have the alert or have assistance in getting back in the correct lane.
  • Forward collision warning (FWC) tracks objects that are getting close to the vehicle and at what speed. This will let the driver determine whether his car is getting too close to another vehicle so he can make corrections.
  • Windshield wiper controls can detect items that might hit the windshield and can adjust them and turn them on, off or faster or slower.
  • Adaptive cruise control employs stereo cameras that are on either side of the rear view mirror and adjust the vehicle speed.

Will you look for a vehicle with this technology in your next new car purchase? It may be something to consider.

Universe Kogaku designs and manufactures optical lenses for automotive, industrial, medical, high tech and electronic applications. We also offer standard and custom lens assemblies for scanners, CCTV, CCD/CMOS, medical imaging, surveillance systems, machine vision and night vision systems.