On May 17 and 18, BMW tested its new Left Turn Assistant technology on a street corner in Wolfsburg, Germany, as part of the INTERSAFE 2 event. A true little technological marvel, the system could well prevent road accidents and frustration in the not-so-distant future.
A camera registers the lane borders and together with a navigation system determines when the vehicle has come up to an intersection. Three laser scanners map the area up to 100 metres in front of the car.
When the driver starts to turn left, the system detects the presence of cars, trucks and motorcycles and can automatically apply the brakes at speeds of up to 10 km/h if it determines that a collision is imminent.
An alarm then sounds and warning symbols appear in the instrument cluster and on the heads-up display, informing the driver of the reason for the intervention.
Because reaction time is crucial in these situations, there is no prior warning, shaving off precious milliseconds that can make all the difference in a collision scenario.
To deactivate Left Turn Assistance after it has been triggered, the driver need only apply the brakes and continue on his or her way.
A camera registers the lane borders and together with a navigation system determines when the vehicle has come up to an intersection. Three laser scanners map the area up to 100 metres in front of the car.
When the driver starts to turn left, the system detects the presence of cars, trucks and motorcycles and can automatically apply the brakes at speeds of up to 10 km/h if it determines that a collision is imminent.
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An alarm then sounds and warning symbols appear in the instrument cluster and on the heads-up display, informing the driver of the reason for the intervention.
Because reaction time is crucial in these situations, there is no prior warning, shaving off precious milliseconds that can make all the difference in a collision scenario.
To deactivate Left Turn Assistance after it has been triggered, the driver need only apply the brakes and continue on his or her way.