Blind Spot Detection

Look over your shoulder or install a radar - it's your choice

By PH Staff / Wednesday, 10 September 2003 / Loading comments

If you're too lazy to look over your shoulder for cars in your blind spot then Valeo may have the answer.

They've come up with some complex, expensive equipment that will scan the blind spot on your car. The Blind Spot Detection (BSD) is a radar-based system that continuously scans the driver's blind spot.

In some countries, checking over your shoulder when changing direction or changing lanes is prescribed by law but in others drivers have to rely on common sense, an increasingly rare commodity.

The system devised by VRS comprises one sensor on each side of the vehicle, both continuously monitoring the lateral area alongside and to the rear of the vehicle. If an object such as an overtaking vehicle appears in the monitored area - i.e. the blind spot - an icon in the door mirror alerts the driver.

The radar is a multi-beam system operating in a narrow band width of 24GHz. By using several beams to recognize objects in the blind spot, the system can also determine the position and distance of the object as well as its relative speed. The radar has a range of between 0.5 and 40 meters. The VRS Blind Spot Detection system monitors the area backward of the door mirrors to approximately one car-length behind the rear bumper, and is suitable for installation in cars, commercial vehicles and buses.