Blind Spot Information System Archives

More advanced Blind Spot monitoring developed for Ford vehicles

How often have you made a move to overtake a vehicle ahead, moved to the right lane – and got the blast of a horn from another vehicle behind? You quickly have to swerve back to your lane as the other car passes by with an angry driver glaring at you. Sometimes, you might even have looked in the mirror and not noticed any vehicle because it was in the ‘blind spot’ and if you are unlucky, a collision might occur.

That’s why many manufacturers now install a Blind Spot monitoring system which scans the rear three-quarter zone of the car, alerting the driver if there is another vehicle. It’s a valuable feature and could save expensive damage as well as injuries to others.

Ford has offered Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) technology on many models for more than a decade now. The system can alert drivers to the presence of vehicles in their blind spot using a warning light in the door mirror.

More advanced BLIS
Now, Ford is going further with a more advanced system – the new Lane-Keeping System with Blind Spot Assist. Besides monitoring the blind spot, the system can now also take pro-active action to discourage a lane-change manoeuvre if a potential collision is detected.

“Many drivers will at some point have been caught by surprise when another vehicle seemingly ‘appears out of nowhere’,” said Glen Goold, a programme engineer at Ford. “Lane-Keeping System with Blind Spot Assist is like having an extra pair of eyes in the back of your head, helping prevent just a second’s lapse in judgement from escalating into something more serious.”

Watching your back
While the original BLIS merely warned the driver, the new system applies a gentle force to the steering wheel to discourage drivers from changing lanes into the path of another road user and even guide the vehicle away from danger.

Radar sensors scan parallel lanes for vehicles up to 28 metres behind, 20 times per second, while the vehicle is moving at speeds from 65 km/h to 200 km/h. An intervention can be automatically activated if the control system senses a lane-change by monitoring road markings using the forward-facing camera, and the technology calculates that the two vehicles are on a collision course.

The Lane-Keeping System with Blind Spot Assist can intervene to help prevent collisions with vehicles approaching with a closing speed of up to approximately 30 km/h.

Looking forward as well
Along with Lane-Keeping System with Blind Spot Assist, Ford has also developed Intersection Assist technology. This uses the vehicle’s forward-facing camera, combined with radar, to monitor for potential collisions with oncoming vehicles at intersections. One study found that more than one in 10 severe accidents at junctions in Europe involved cars colliding with other cars, vans buses or trucks at cross-junctions.

The technology can automatically apply the brakes when travelling at up to 30 km/h to help prevent or mitigate the effects of accidents in scenarios where a driver is turning across the path of an oncoming vehicle, such as commonly encountered at junctions or small roundabouts.

Intersection Assist operates without the need to detect lane markings or kerbs. It can even intervene in carparks, worksites or other locations without clear markings or traffic priorities. Both technologies can operate in daylight and in darkness with headlights activated.

Ford has already introduced the two new technologies in Europe and will progressively add it to other models as time goes on. These join an already extensive range of safety technologies available in all Ford models, including pick-ups such as the Ranger.

Visit www.sdacford.com.my to know more about the safety features in Ford models available in Malaysia

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New Ford technology can prevent ‘car dooring’ by cyclists (w/VIDEO)

Many cars nowadays come with a sensing system that monitors the area along the sides of the car which are in the driver’s blind spot. The sensors detect the presence of another car or motorcyclist and alert the driver by a flashing light on the mirror or on the instrument panel. The warning can prevent a collision if the driver had been intending to change lanes or turn.

Volvo (while it was in the Ford Group) developed this active safety system that came to be called the Blind Spot Information System or BLIS. Naturally Volvo models were the first to have BLIS from 2007 and Ford too adopted the system on many of its models as an optional or standard feature.

*Ford BLIS warning flashes on the door mirror if there is another vehicle or motorcyclists in the blind spot.*

Eventually other manufacturers also had similar systems and today, the sensors also detect cross traffic approaching as the vehicle reverses out of a parking bay. This is especially useful as the driver may not be able to see either side due to the view being blocked by other adjacent vehicles.

However, BLIS works only when the vehicle is moving and now Ford has gone further in this area by developing new technology which can reduce accidents caused by drivers or passengers opening their doors as a cyclist is approaching. Although they should first open the door slightly and look to the back first, many just open it suddenly and a cyclist might not be able to stop in time.

3,500 accidents in one year
While this sort of accident may not be so common in Malaysia, there are thousands such accidents in Europe every year. In 2018 alone, 3,500 ‘car dooring’ accidents occurred in Germany. This problem is expected to get worse as more people choose to cycle and ride e‑scooters in cities.

Ford’s new technology is called Exit Warning and provides visual and audible alerts to road users and vehicle occupants when it detects that opening the door of a parked car might cause a collision. It could also prevent a vehicle door from opening into someone’s path.

How it works
Many Ford vehicles already have sensors and technology that can automatically detect and brake for cyclists ahead and as mentioned earlier, BLIS lets drivers know when other road-users are in their blind spots.

Using these existing sensors, Exit Warning analyses and understands the movements of approaching road-users – whether they are riding a bicycle or an e-scooter – on both the driver and passenger sides of the vehicle. If the system detects that opening the vehicle door could cause a collision, an alarm sounds to warn the driver or passenger of the danger.

To attract attention, bright red LEDs on the wing mirror also begin to flash as a visual warning for cyclists and a strip of red LEDs along the inner trim of the door – that becomes visible when the door is opened – provides further warning for passing road-users.

For engineers are also testing a new mechanism for the car door that momentarily prevents it from fully opening until the Exit Warning system determines the passing road-user is safely clear of the vehicle. Of course, the vehicle occupant will be able to manually override this feature in an emergency.

Following testing with drivers and cyclists from within Ford, the engineers will be conducting customer clinics in coming months. Part of the testing will be to ensure that the technology accommodates road-users in different markets, taking into account right-hand and left-hand drive vehicles as well as different road and lane layouts.

Fostering harmony between road-users
Ford’s ‘Share The Road’ campaign seeks to foster harmony between road-users and underlines the company’s belief that enabling more people to cycle safely, especially for short journeys, benefits everyone.

The company recently highlighted the challenges of communication between drivers and cyclists – and how smart thinking could potentially ease tensions and reduce accidents. Its prototype ‘Emoji Jacket’ is a one‑of‑a‑kind wearable that features a brightly lit LED mesh panel to display emojis, indicators and the hazard warning symbol. The prototype jacket enables cyclists to more easily and clearly signal their intent – and their feelings – to drivers and other road-users.

Visit www.sdacford.com.my to know more about the safety technologies in today’s Ford models.

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