Ford's Lane Keeping Technology To Assist Driving

Ford Explorer will feature Lane keeping technology in its coming version in 2012. The concept is evolved from the fact that accidents occur due to faulty driving mostly arising out of drowsiness. The company has brought this technology to its cars after testing it for thousands of miles on different types of roads and in different driving conditions. Ford's Explorer is perhaps going to become the only car of 2012 to be equipped with so many smart technologies. The automaker has already made it the most efficient SUV available today on the basis of technology. The coffee break technology will also have a control on cases of rash driving.



The much talked about Coffee break technology (Lane keeping technology) keeps an eye over the condition of driver with the help of advanced sensors. The Lane keeping concept is the combination of three important elements. They are The Driver Alert System, Lane Keeping Alert and Lane Keeping Aid.

The car will be fitted with a forward camera which can be used to calculate the relative distance of the vehicle from the lane. The camera is basically employed to predict the possible position of the vehicle at precisely any moment of time. Whenever the driver is feeling sleepy, the camera detects the condition as the car can leave its determined lane. The sensor then gives a signal to the driver by igniting a light on front panel of car. In this case even the steering on which the driver has placed his hands vibrates for completely ensuring that he/she is aware of the situation. All these actions are done much prior to the car leaving the lane. This provides you with valuable time to control the automobile. The technology can also assist you becoming something similar to auto-pilot as in air plane. This is only possible when the driver has decided to drive with the help of lane keeping aid.

Now when you talk of signals, the car takes help of different color codes like Green, Yellow, Red, and Grey etc. Green indicates that the system is up and functioning. Grey means that the system is disabled by the driver. Yellow means a warning and red stands for the condition when you have already broken out of your selected lane. You can of course select the sensitivity of the system which can be increased and decreased.

So even though the system is optional and working as per the wishes of driver, it is an effective tool in curbing the incidents of accidents arising out of the unintentionally leaving the lane. The passengers can hence be assured of their safety especially during night travel when drowsiness is a common problem with the drivers.

Check out the descriptive video of Lane keeping System-