Camera Aided Driving
General Motors has come out with a new system that aids automobile drivers in difficult driving conditions; conditions such as heavy rain and or fog. The assist is to highlight on the windshield when and where danger is approaching, such as small children, animals, or obstructions in the roadway. In another series of camera, they are able to alert the driver when other vehicles are in the commonly known areas, “blind spots.”
I think this new idea has both positives and negatives tied into it. Let me start out with the positives. First off, as the picture displays in the original article, I believe that the driving assists can possibly be of beneficial assistance in non-desirable conditions such as heavy rain, dense fog, and even at night when two cars are approaching each other, blinding themselves from the head lights. If the program really is able to accurately light up on the windshield where the while line, yellow line, and maybe even more beneficial, the centerline, I believe this program can be beneficial. Another helpful aspect to the new programming will be if they can accurately detect if another vehicle is beside the vehicle your piloting. This may be helpful I both interstate and city driving.
Unfortunately, there are usually some downfalls that ride along side the positives. First and foremost, I believe that if GM does install these features into a car, I hope that they would strongly stress that even with these new components, the driver is still the one at fault if there is an accident. The driver must understand that these features may become defective and are no excuse for the pilots poor driving. I also am afraid that these types of programs become defective overtime. In this case, I would hope GM would give the driver full ability to turn off all of these programmable assists, so that if one is faulty, they do not create an even bigger issue for the consumer.
Also, GM is considering including a “heads up” navigation system, which would display the directions on the windshield, which is supposed to help keep drivers eyes on the road. But let’s be honest, heads up or down, the driver is focused on reading or playing with his/her navigation system, not driving. So let’s not over think the obvious.
I understand the need for assisting driving on the roadways, especially those who probably shouldn’t have a driver’s license in the first place. I am just worried about the possible law suits that could potentially come out of this. These new ideas may help to prevent many accidents and fender benders, but at the end of the day, assists or not, I believe that the drivers around the country, and the world, need to stick to paying attention to driving, nothing else. Not even the electronic falsities we install into vehicles.Original Article
http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2010-03/gm-wants-turn-car-windshields-navigation-displays
Supporting Article
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/gm-tinkers-with-augmented-reality-system-for-cars/
http://www.gm.com/experience/technology/research/
http://www.cmu.edu/index.shtml
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/01/04/1015176/turn-left-into-snowbank-dont-blindly.html
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