Movies always portray seemingly perfect future cars that pilot themselves around cities in an error free, safe ballet of movement. Mobileye’s Advance Warning System (AWS) doesn’t do that just yet, but it still offers an advanced level of safety automakers only dreamed about just a few years ago.

AWS is a camera-based driver assistance system for accident prevention and accident mitigation. What this means is that it will tell an inattentive driver when he or she is too close to the vehicle in front of them, or when he or she is about to exit the lane or road, making for much safer driving.

U.S. Department of Transportation statistics show that improving driver response by 1.5 seconds will prevent 90 percent of rear end collisions. Driver inattention is also cited as the primary cause for accidents, and that in almost one third of all accidents, the driver did not attempt to brake at all prior to the crash.

Mobileye’s draw is that the system will alert you before an accident and give you enough time to brake or turn and avoid the accident altogether.

“It’s a great system to have in your car,” said Meny Benady, Vice President of Product Development for Mobileye. “I’m a very safe driver to begin with, but I’ve noticed I use my turn signals more often.”

Benady said he “absolutely” has AWS installed in his car, and that every time he uses a rental car without the system, the car feels naked. “I’ve had two close calls, one where I dozed off, and it alerted me, and another where there may have been a minor collision if it had not alerted me.”

AWS is already sold in Europe with about 3,000 units installed in Israel alone, and is set to launch in 2007 throughout the United States with an installed price of less than $2,000 per vehicle.

The aftermarket hardware consists of a camera mounted near the rear view mirror, a round color display module, and two speakers that are installed on or near the dash area. 

A Mobileye dealer will have a technician professionally install the system in your vehicle, large or small, commercial or consumer.

There are three main parts of the AWS system

The first one is a lane departure warning, which will signal the driver if they are veering off the road. “If they are drowsy, inattentive, or drifting, the system will remind the driver with a rumble sound that is designed to wake them up,” said Benady.

The camera detects and measures lane position relative to the vehicle and provides distance to lane marks.

The second part is a collision warning that will alert the driver of an impending collision with the vehicle ahead, up to 2.7 seconds before it occurs.

The final part is more for “correct” driving. It allows the driver to see if they are following too closely, as we all learned in driver’s education that two seconds or more is ideal in everyday safe driving.

“The on screen car will be green, then switch to amber when you are one second away from the car ahead, then to red when you are following a dangerous .6 seconds away,” said Benady. “In my opinion people will crash a lot less with this to warn them.”

The three features correspond with three of the leading causes of road accidents:

• Rear end accidents caused by driver inattention.
• Lane departure accidents, as well as accidents where the vehicle leaves the road.
• Rear end accidents caused by insufficient distance keeping.

The whole thing is very plug and play, with simple driver programmable things like time, volume, and illumination.

Six major car companies will offer versions of the AWS’ lane departure system as Original Equipment Manufactured (OEM) options in 2007, which is big news for the manufacturer, which was founded in 1999 and has 150 employees. BMW’s newly redesigned 5 series has already implemented the system in Europe.

“Most equipment chosen for OEM is Mobileye, we have a strong position in the market,” said Benady. “We don’t have any real competition, as other systems are not marketed toward all cars, or only use radar.”

AWS is still in the preliminary stages of insurance testing and distribution in the United States, it will be available to consumers within a few months.