BMW pioneers left turn assistant
New safety system is designed to avoid collisions by scanning the road for oncoming traffic, automatically applying the brakes to avoid a bingleIn the never ending pursuit to improve vehicle safety, BMW has come up with a new 'left turn assistant' designed to reduce the incidence of collisions when turning into or out of intersections.
The system has been tested on BMW 5 Series vehicles and is initiated when the turn signal is switched on, which kick starts a number of sensors that scan the road through a relevant range. It could be likened to having an 'assistant' or eagle-eyed passenger looking out for the driver.
While a standard mono camera identifies the road markings and lane borders of the road, a trio of laser scanners map the area up to 100 metres around the front of the vehicle, and can detect trucks, cars, and motorcycles.
In the event that the driver doesn't see the oncoming traffic, or neglects to look both ways for vehicles travelling perpendicular to the intersection, the system will detect approaching traffic and stop the car as it begins to turn left into the intersection.
"If the sensors detect vehicles approaching from the opposite direction but the car continues to move into the intersection, the left turn assistant activates an automatic braking input in a low speed range up to 10km/h to prevent a collision," reads BMW's media statement for the new system.
Warning alerts are also sounded and screened to warn the driver that a car travelling along the driver's intended trajectory is looming, but the system will always intervene and hit the anchors to stop the car moving forward.
"A rapid response is vital in this situation to prevent the car from moving into the intersection and presenting an obstacle to oncoming traffic. If the driver first had to react to a warning, the car would continue forward into the collision area and an accident would no longer be avoidable."
The new left turn assistant sounds clever in theory, but it requires the driver to use the turn signal in the first instance. In many countries a growing body of evidence suggests that drivers are using their turn signals less and less, which would make the system obsolete in some cases. It also remains to be seen if the system would work in right-hand drive markets.
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