Blind spots in cars could eventually be a thing of the past

Blind spots could be a thing of the past, if only replacing car mirrors with the latest technology was legal.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, BMW showed off a prototype vehicle where the rear- and side-view mirrors were replaced by cameras, which the automaker says give drivers a more complete picture of what’s happening behind them.

Video footage from three cameras one on the rear windshield and two replacing the traditional side mirrors is pieced together onto a broad video screen that replaces the traditional rear-view mirror.

It’s the latest example of automakers’ interest in reinventing the mirrors in vehicles to provide better visibility for drivers and a more aerodynamic, fuel-efficient design.

Experiments with new formats of mirrors are nothing new. In 1969 researchers working on behalf of the federal government outfitted a Chevrolet Impala convertible with a six-foot wide mirror that gave drivers an unobstructed rear view. It worked on the convertible because there are no rear beams to block the driver’s rear sight lines. But it was never taken seriously by automakers because of huge styling and aerodynamic issues.

But things are a little different now.

“There’s no longer a strong barrier of technology or price,” said Michael Flannagan, a research associate professor at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute, of replacing mirrors with cameras. “The fact that so many back-up cameras are in use has made the technology for vehicles mature very rapidly. It has set the stage for an even greater use.”

Flannagan said the most promising opportunity to improve safety is similar to what BMW is doing, in which drivers are given a unified field of view. They would no longer have to turn their heads to the left or right to look at outside mirrors.

“The key safety thing is eyes should be directly in front of you, straight ahead almost all the time. The more you can do that the better,” Flannagan said.

But no research has been conducted yet showing that camera systems are safer than traditional mirrors.

“There is no research because it’s not been allowed up till now,” said David Zuby, the chief research officer at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “Conceivably an array of cameras could give you a broader view of what’s going on around the car than a side-view mirror.” He also cautioned that the camera lenses for such a system would have to be kept clean to be effective. And the electronics would need to be proven as durable and long-lasting.

With a camera-based system some drivers also would no longer have the potential problem of struggling to pivot in their seat to check their blind spots.

BMW has not released a timeline for when it expects the mirrors could be included on its vehicles.

That in part is because U.S. government guidelines still call for mirrors. These rules were developed before cameras emerged as a viable alternative.

This story was originally published January 13, 2016 at 11:32 AM with the headline "Blind spots in cars could eventually be a thing of the past."