BMW left turn assistant driver aid helps make merging easier

May 18, 2011May 18, 2011 Omar Rana 5-Series, BMW 5-Series, Gadgets, Sedans

BMW announced a new driver aid that will assist drivers in making left turns and merges.

Debuting in the new 2012 BMW 5-Series, the left-turn assist uses an array of sensors on the car in conjunction with the vehicle positioning system through the GPS. Paired up with a mono camera versus the standard camera in use—whatever a mono camera is—the system uses three laser scanners on the front end of the car to look for turn-off lane markings and borders up to 100 meters in front. They also look for oncoming or neighboring cars, trucks and even motorcycles.

As a result, if the car senses that oncoming traffic is within range and the car continues to creep below 10 km/h, the brakes will automatically be applied to prevent a collision. Simultaneously, a warning in the head-up display would pop up with an accompanying warning tone to alert the driver of intervention.

Also being introduced is their new Car-to-x communication system, which allows the driver’s BMW to communicate with other BMWs—cars and motorcycles—similarly equipped up to 250 meters. Both vehicles will exchange information such as speed, position, and the type of vehicle and will work with the left-turn assist accordingly.

The system is automatically activated when the driver uses the left turn signal and has an override function that’s triggered by a short jab of the accelerator pedal. The overriding function allows the driver to make emergency maneuvers when necessary so the system doesn’t intervene completely.