I spy with my little eye

Posted by Car Magazine MotorPlay under Automakers, News, Vauxhall

The new Vauxhall Insignia relies on the motorists’ good will when it comes to speed limits and other restrictions on the road. In early 2009, the Insignia will come with a dual-function camera that reads speed limit and no-overtaking signs and displays them on the instrument panel. Uhmm, I thought the whole idea of road signs was to make you keep your eyes ON the road while driving, but I guess I’m getting old. The second feature of the camera, on the other hand, isn’t something completely new: it alerts drivers when they unintentionally veer out of their lane. Lets just hope it can really tell when it’s unintentionally or not.
The camera is positioned between the rearview mirror and the windscreen, and although it’s not larger than your regular cell phone, it can take 30 pictures per second, which is very impressive by any standards. It scans the road signs and matches the read with the shapes stored into the car’s software before displaying them in front of the driver. It’s set to prioritize a no-overtaking sign over a speed limit one, probably thinking that a speed ticket won’t kill you (depends on the wife, really) while a head-on collision will. Thoughtful thinking…
Still, if you don’t care much about speed limits, a fuzz buster should still be your first choice.