High-tech system can make a car, driver smarter

With the new breed of safe cars, you'll no longer have just a back-seat driver to second-guess you. You'll also have one in the rearview mirror, dashboard and steering wheel.

While air bags have helped reduce serious injury and electronic stability-control systems show promise of reducing rollovers, the latest high-tech warning systems will go much further toward preventing accidents by making both the car and driver smarter.

Later this year, the Volvo XC90 sport-utility vehicle will include a blind-spot warning system as standard equipment. Cameras in the sideview mirrors scan for approaching objects and signal you with an alarm if another vehicle gets too close.

By the end of 2004, at least one manufacturer plans to offer a model equipped with a lane-departure warning system. A camera hidden above the rearview mirror tracks solid and broken-line lane markings. When the car's computer senses that the vehicle is drifting toward a lane change and the driver hasn't switched on a turn-indicator signal, it alerts the driver with a sound that simulates a rumble strip.

"We think it will be a $200-to-$300 option on most cars within a few years," says Francis Memole of Iteris, which has been marketing the system to commercial truck makers since 2000.

BMW, Cadillac, Jaguar, Mercedes and Volvo will offer adaptive cruise control — which slows or stops your car if you approach another vehicle at too high a speed — on more of their models. Several companies are also experimenting with adaptive headlights — the beams are longer at higher speeds and shorter and broader at slower speeds.

Some "smart car" technologies focus on reducing driver distraction. In Europe, Volvo will offer a system that automatically puts an incoming cell-phone call on hold if you're making a turn or doing something else that demands your immediate attention. Other carmakers are experimenting with cameras that track eye movement to determine whether you're drowsy.

Even though these technologies have all been proved to work, some drivers simply don't want them, says Myles Kitchen, an automotive-electronics consultant. And manufacturers worry about potential liability if a car takes too much control of steering or braking away from the driver and then malfunctions.

Despite the encouraging safety advances, "car buyers are more interested in spending money for in-vehicle entertainment," says Mark Fitzgerald, an automotive-electronics analyst with Strategy Analytics. "They're looking for a way to keep the kids quiet."

Of course, given that children are a leading cause of driver distraction, that's a safety measure, too.