Lane Departure Warning

A lane departure warning system 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 system generally available comes from Nissan Motors and is fitted to their Infiniti FX and M45 vehicles. 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.

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.