Volvo offers a safety feature on its cars called, "BLIS", short for Blind Spot Information System. It's supposed to detect vehicles in the driver's blind spot.

The company created a television commercial that demonstrates the BLIS using, of all things, a speeding motorcycle as an example.

You can watch the video on Volvo's S80 website, and clicking on "BLIS"...
http://new.volvocars.com/s80/flash.html

To sum up the video, a guy is driving his Volvo S80 on the freeway, and is about to make a lane change, WITHOUT LOOKING OVER HIS SHOULDER to see if anything is in his blindspot. He would have collided with the motorcycle in his blindspot, except the BLIS alerted him to it, and he corrected himself.

I can't help thinking BLIS is going to make cagers even more lazy. While it can certainly prevent some collisions with motorcycles, this technology is not so much designed to prevent accidents, but designed to create more peace of mind for cagers.

If BLIS finds its way into other makes and models of cars, then people won't have to look over the their shoulders before making a lane change. They can eliminate one more task of responsible driving.

Labels: Road Technology