Blind spot monitoring

Description
At both sides of a vehicle normally there are some blind spots, if using a mirror for back ward view. Different systems can either provide better vision into the blind spot area or supplemental information regarding an obstacle being there, e.g. by warning signals. Wide angle side mirrors reduce the blind spot area. If the mirrors are heated, the vision in bad weather conditions is optimised further on. Camera techniques with image processing or radar sensors can give addition information about the situation in the blind spot. An adequate HMI solution is generally a prerequisite for an effective system.

Impacts
No reliable safety estimates yet exist. The system should affect side collisions i.e. collisions of vehicles in parallel lanes by making the drivers better aware of vehicles in close proximity.

Studies

Blind spot detection/Lane change warning was found to have potential to prevent 5.0% of crashes involving large trucks included in the LTCCS database

The estimates are based on real-world crash data collected in Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) which was conducted from 2001 to 2003. The LTCCS study conducted on-scene investigations for real-world crashes and produced a database of 1070 accidents. This data was used to make case by case estimations of the applicability of crash avoidance countermeasures for each crash based on expert knowledge on the analysed systems and their effectiveness in various crash scenarios.

Kingsley, K. J.

2009

Evaluating crash avoidance countermeasures using data from FMCS's/NHTSA's large truck accident causation study. Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles Conference (ESV) - International Congress Center Stuttgart, Germany, June 15–18, 2009.