Lane departure warning system

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A lane departure warning system (LDW) is a mechanism designed to warn a car driver when his or her vehicle begins to move out of its lane (unless a turn signal is on in that direction) on freeways and arterial roads.

The first production LDW system available in North America was the system jointly developed by Valeo and Iteris for Nissan Motors and is fitted to their 2005 Infiniti FX and 2006 M45 vehicles^[1]. In this system, cameras mounted on the outside mirrors monitor the striping on an Interstate highway. A vibrating mechanism mounted in the car seat is triggered on the side corresponding to the direction of vehicle drift to alert the driver who may, for example, be feeling drowsy. The vehicle can even steer the car back into its lane.

In Europe Citroën first offered LDW on their 2005 C4 and C5 models, and now also on their C6. This system uses infrared sensors under the front bumper to monitor lane markings on the road surface. A vibration mechanism in the seat alerts the driver of deviations^[2].

A variation will similarly notify the driver of tailgating, even appling emergency braking if the driver fails to take corrective action. As with anti-lock brakes, this type of computer control over the dynamics of the vehicle could be disconcerting and will require driver retraining.

Lateral Support includes Lane departure warning system and Lane departure change system.