Automakers are Designing New Car Gadgets Focused on Driver Safety and Awareness

Safer Lane Changes is Just One of the Latest Trends to Include Advanced Gadgets in New SUV Models

Every new car season brings with it a dazzling assortment of high-tech gadgets and an equally formidable barrage of hype aimed at romancing you into this year's model.

What's hot and what's hype? We posed that question to Paul Duchene, a national automotive writer based in Portland, Ore.

"There are a lot of gizmos this year and some of them are good, too," he says. "One of the reasons is there are a lot of new models and a whole bunch of updates this year, including the Nissan 350Z, Mazda's RX-8 and BMW's Z4 and 745i, the car some critics have informally dubbed 'the quarter to eight.'"

Let's put the pedal to the metal and cruise some of this year's hottest new gadgets:

Intelligent cruise control: This lends new dimension to the term "keeping up with the Joneses." Previously, cruise control was a simple proposition: You set your speed and your car maintained it until you tapped the brake or manually turned it off. Infiniti's new wrinkle uses a laser beam to measure the distance between you and the vehicle ahead and maintains a preset distance until you disengage it. The upside is you can't tailgate. The downside depends on the driving skills of the guy in front of you.

Directional stability: This is a little like having your mother-in-law in the back seat, only quieter. "You go into a corner too hard and the car basically figures out that it's about to change direction from where you want it to go and will selectively apply, say, a rear brake on one side just to keep it going in the line that it senses it's pointed," says Duchene. And he tested it. Hard. "It really works, way past the point that it makes sense."

Mouse control: It had to happen and finally does with BMW's 7 series. That dial-shaped gizmo where a stick shift would normally reside is called iDrive and it controls the heat, air, audio level and other cabin-related functions. This gives you a sleek, button-free dashboard. Beginners, however, need to look at the in-dash display to use it.

Voice-recognition system: Sure, we all talk, even scream, at our cars on occasion. Now Infiniti presents one that finally listens. The Q45 voice recognition system allows you to change CDs, adjust the temperature, access your GPS navigation system or make a hands-free cell phone call, all through voice command. The system understands 50,000 words in 150 dialects and even learns the sound of your voice. Hal, is that you?

Run-flat tires: No matter how high-tech your ride, there are four things all cars have in common, and they still go flat from time to time. Run-flat tires don't prevent flats, but they will get you to a repair shop. "When you run over a nail and the tire goes flat, if you keep it under 30 miles per hour, it will get you someplace where you can change it," Duchene explains. "Part of the reason they can do it is that performance tires are much lower profile and deform much less, so you can make stiffer sidewalls."

Mobile entertainment: New minivans approximate all the comforts of home: Pop-down DVD screens, earphone ports, even a remote control to fight over. That takes care of the kids; now what about Mom and Dad? How about coast-to-coast, commercial-free satellite radio? For the cost of a radio receiver ($300 and up) and service (less than $15 a month), you can receive 70 channels of commercial-free music and 40 channels of news, talk, sports and entertainment programming from such providers as XM and Sirius. It sure beats choruses of, "Are we there yet?"

Limp-home mode: How smart is the Cadillac Northstar engine? If you blow a radiator hose, the Northstar automatically reverts to limp-home mode, shutting the gas supply off in several cylinders and turning the engine into a quasi-air cool system. You won't set any land speed records, but your engine will survive the damage you unwittingly might have done to it.

DVD navigation: Because of the limited data storage capacity of earlier onboard GPS satellite-navigation systems, you had to reinstall a different CD of map displays if you wanted to travel to other parts of the country. With the new DVD-based systems, all of North America is now your oyster. Does it play movies, too? Duchene chuckles: "The Lexus system has the ability to play movie DVDs on its screen, but it won't play if you're in gear, so you can't be watching a movie while you're driving down the road." We really didn't think so, but had to ask.

Automatic braking: Remember your mother-in-law in the back seat? Here's a feature that cleverly simulates the effect of her panicked stranglehold on you in a traffic crisis. "There are brake systems now that have a brains-override thing where they figure you're not braking hard enough for what's going on and will actually add power to the brakes," Duchene says. Easier on the esophagus, too.

Head restraint, side curtains and pre-tensioners: Luxury cars feature all the safety money can buy. In addition to standard forward and side airbags, many models now come with inflatable head-restraint bands along the top of the windshield and inflatable side window curtains. The Lexus system automatically cinches up your seat belt with pre-tensioners just milliseconds before impact. Cadillac's Escalade SUV uses sensors to analyze the size and weight of front-seat passengers and automatically deactivates the front air bag if it detects a child or rear-facing child seat riding shotgun. "Though not yet on the market, the car companies are developing a 'catcher's mitt' seat that, if things go wrong, just kind of grabs you and holds you in place," says Duchene.

Back-up assistance: If parallel parking is not your strong suit, you'll be pleased to hear about a couple systems designed to give you a better look at your rear end. GM's Ultrasonic Rear Parking Assistant uses four sensors to triangulate the position of objects behind you and guides you with both an audible chime and LED lights at the back window. Infiniti's RearView Monitor goes one step further and actually displays on the dashboard monitor a full-color video from a rear-mounted mini-cam. Now all you've got to do is find a parking space.

Automatic accident reporting: In the event of an accident, your car can now phone for help, even if you can't. "Some of this stuff now, if you have a crash, the car calls home and 911 and says, 'I've been hurt,'" Duchene says. "But that has its drawbacks. As one of my friends pointed out, sometimes when you make a mistake, you could use about 20 minutes to get away."

ParkFX is the 360-Degree Backup Solution and it's Less Costly Than Backup Sensors, Park Assist and Rearview Cameras

Deaths increase. Ninety-one children were killed in 2003 by drivers who didn’t see them while backing up, according to Kids and Cars ( www.kidsandcars.org ), a nonprofit organization working to improve child safety around vehicles. Those deaths represented a 57 percent increase from 2002. During the first six months of 2004, more than 40 deaths have been attributed to backover accidents, many involving vehicles with large blind spots.

Kids and Cars compiles these statistics; the federal government does not track such incidents. Janette Fennell, president of the organization, believes that backover accidents are underreported and that the actual number of children killed or injured is much higher.

Blind spots grow with vehicle size. A likely reason for the increase in injuries is that minivans, pickups, and SUVs account for more than half of all vehicles sold. Many have large rear-view blind spots.

Last year, Consumer Reports began measuring the blind spot of each vehicle we test, checking the distance for short drivers (5 feet 1 inch tall) and for those of average height (5 feet 8 inches tall). The biggest blind spot: 51 feet for a short driver in a Chevrolet Avalanche pickup. But even small sedans can have blind spots of more than 40 feet. We regularly update vehicle blind-spot information, which is available on this site free of charge in The problem of blind spots.

Systems other than ParkFX combine a camera with sensors, so we tested each system independently; it is listed with camera systems in the Ratings.

All the systems we tested are potentially useful. They’re a good complement to looking around the vehicle before entering, and checking the rear window and rear-view mirror just before and while moving in reverse.

Steering Wheels Get More and More Buttons

The steering wheel is quickly become the control center for the entire vehicle. Auto manufacturer's are using the steering wheel to add new buttons and controls for everything from controlling the radio to switching gears. USA Today reports that many cars already have 10 to 15 different buttons on the steering wheel:

The fingertip frenzy isn't just about luxury cars, either. Sure, the $73,750 Range Rover SUV offers 10 buttons or toggles, not including the horn. And the $49,100 Acura RL sedan has 16, in addition to two thumb paddles for manually changing gears. But Toyota's humble — albeit fully-loaded — $26,040 Prius gas-electric hybrid sedan includes 15 places to mash a thumb into the steering wheel.

Automakers say the buttons help motorists keep their fingers on the wheel instead of having to fiddle with dials and knobs on the dashboard, making driving safer.

Merging Into Highway Traffic Proves Difficult for Most Drivers

Drivaware reports lane changing on busy highways can be difficult for even the most experienced drivers. The secret is to plan ahead by knowing what other vehicles are doing around you.

In Drivaware's interactive demo on safe lane changes and merges, the car in the right lane is traveling faster than your car. Many impatient drivers will (wrongly) tailgate slower vehicles traveling in the fast lane. Be proactive! Avoid this situation by staying right as much as is practical. In this example, it would be best to move your vehicle over to the right lane as soon as it is safe.

Remember you have blind spots, and that the blind spot on the right is larger than on the left. Before you change lanes, turn your head carefully to check the appropriate blind spot.

Once you've successfully negotiated the lane change, make sure your turn signal is off. This is important. If other drivers see that your turn signal is always on, they may not trust you on the highway! They will never know when you want to turn and when you don't.

Basic Skills for Safer Commutes

Driving has changed a lot since most of us first got behind the wheel. This section will help you to keep a constant watch on your surroundings, the vehicles and people around you at all times.

An important factor to take into consideration when driving is to check your mirrors frequently, and also check the blind spots, by looking over your shoulders before switching lanes or making turns. As we age, most of us become less flexible, so check out the information on this site about exercises that will keep you limber and help you drive safely.

Knowing the needs of other traffic like trucks, buses, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians is very important. For example, trucks should be provided with extra space, as they need wider turning lanes, watch out for buses, as they need to enter traffic from stopping lanes, and give pedestrians plenty of time to cross the road.

Everyone has one or two problematic areas of driving. Click the links on your right, to the areas that give you trouble. We can all improve our driving.

Don't Forget About Your Backup Blind Spots

Available ParkFX is the best park assist system to show you the parking boundaries and dangers around you when you're backing up

LaneFX Standard Features to Make Every Lane Change Safer

Q. Even though LaneFX is ultra simple concept, you've managed to make LaneFX a very feature rich product. Correct?

A. Absolutely. Let me give you a brief walk through of the features and add-on options of the LaneFX system:

1. First we talked about the universal fit of LaneFX.
2. Second, ease of installation (which you have to remember quick installations mean less cost of ownership to the customer and faster seamless installations mean higher customer satisfaction). The way we were about to simplified installation on hundreds if not thousands of power mirror systems is by using an Intelligent Learn Technology. So all the installer has to do is hook up a set of 3 wires on either side of LaneFX module. And then all the installer has to do is start learn mode and the unit "learns" the wiring setup of the vehicle and configures itself on that basis. No complex wiring diagram, no programming required.
3. Third, all mirror movements are fully customizable at installation. We wanted to make LaneFX as responsive to the driver and tailored to the driver's preferences as possible. So with every LaneFX unit, each driver can customize how far the mirror opens up, how long it pauses when it gets there, and even how fast the mirror should move. You can control your preferences separately for the right and left mirror.
4. LaneFX is intended to be a concealed unit either under the dash or in the trunk. So these adjustments should be made at installation and you can always tweak them or change occasionally after that.
5. Another feature we offer in the system is control of both mirrors. So you control the left and right mirror separately or concurrently.

Q. And all of these features you mentioned are standard in every LaneFX box?

A. Yes. That's correct.

Q. But I also understand that you have a number of optional add-on components that a customer can choose to further enhance his/hers LaneFX system.

A. Our team has worked very diligently to research what consumers would like to have in their complete LaneFX system. Let me share with you a quick list of what some of these options are:

1. First is a very inexpensive add-on component we have that we think is going to be very popular, especially among entry level domestic vehicles is the optional Mirror Speed Boost. With this component owners of vehicles with slow moving power mirrors can safely boost their mirror movement speeds up to 200% of OEM speed. This will provide drivers with a way to ensure that LaneFX movement is responsive to their driving needs. All of the mirror speeds are customizable by the driver from 80% to 200% of OEM speed, and those adjustments can be done separately for left and right mirrors.
2. Second we have a great optional component that's quite frankly is a driver awareness system in and of itself: ParkFX. ParkFX is an active park assist and curb exposure system that uses your side mirrors to expose the parking boundaries around your vehicle as your backing up. Much in the same LaneFX moves your mirror outward to expose the blind spot next to you and behind you, ParkFX tilts the blind spot mirror downward when you put the vehicle in reverse to expose either the parking lines let's say if you were in a mall parking lot, or more importantly to expose the curb in parallel parking situations. When you take the car out of reverse, the mirror comes back to its original position, every single time. Just like LaneFX, ParkFX is universal and fully-customizable to the driver's preferences. The system works on any vehicle, new or old, domestic or import, manual or automatic transmission. And you can choose to have ParkFX control the left, right or both mirrors. And to be complete, you can also configure at installation how much ParkFX should tilt each of these mirrors when the vehicle is backing up. So for a big SUV, you can choose the blind spot mirrors to tilt down farther than say someone who drives a small sedan. Everything is universal and fully-customizable to your needs.
3. Thirdly is an add-on component we are very proud of: our Turn Signal Link integration kit. I put my blinker on and that activates LaneFX to show me my blind spot before I change lanes? Yes exactly. And you can also configure the Turn Signal Link integration kit to activate only when the vehicle is moving above certain speed, like over 55mph to have it only activate on when you're on the highway, or say over 35mph in an urban city setting.
4. The forth in our options list is a plug-and-play wireless controls kit. We've heard time and time again that drivers would ideally like the LaneFX controls at the finger tips, just like your horn or turn signal stalk. this tiny module I am holding is an example of a left-hand wireless control. So we designed this wireless kit so that installers never have to worry about running wires to the steering wheel (which is a no no) and to give the customer to place the controls anywhere. The wireless controls kit includes two controls for left and right and is designed to fit behind one of your steering-wheel spokes. The placement is meant to avoid competing with the increasing number of OEM buttons on the front of the steering wheel. Also the placement behind the top spoke make the LaneFX control within the reach of a finger tip without having to move a hand off the steering wheel regardless in you drive with your hands in the 10-to-2 position or racing style.
5. One more plug-and-play optional component which is our Speed Sensitivity Mode. This is an add-on component that integrates with OBDII port of virtually any vehicle and continuously reads the vehicle speed. The LaneFX module is pre-programmed to take advantage of this option and it then produces more dynamic mirror movement based on the vehicle speed. This ensures an ever greater degree of responsiveness to the driver's needs in real-time. So LaneFX moves the mirror faster at say 70mph than at 55mph? Exactly right, and it also pauses less when it reaches its maximum expansion angle at higher speeds.