Lane departure warning system

In road-transport terminology, a lane departure warning system is a mechanism designed to warn the driver when the vehicle begins to move out of its lane (unless a turn signal is on in that direction) on freeways and arterial roads. These systems are designed to minimize accidents by addressing the main causes of collisions: driver error, distractions and drowsiness. In 2009 the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began studying whether to mandate lane departure warning systems and frontal collision warning systems on automobiles.

There are three main types of systems:

The first production lane departure warning system in Europe was developed by the United States company Iteris for Mercedes Actros commercial trucks. The system debuted in 2000, and is now available on most trucks sold in Europe.

In 2002, the Iteris system became available on Freightliner Trucks' North American vehicles. In both these systems, the driver is warned of unintentional lane departures by an audible rumble strip sound generated on the side of the vehicle drifting out of the lane. No warnings are generated if, before crossing the lane, an active turn signal is given by the driver.

Lane warning/keeping systems are based on:

Fiat is also launching its Lane Keep Assist feature based on TRW's lane keeping assist system (also known as the Haptic Lane Feedback system). This system integrates the lane-detection camera with TRW's electric power-steering system; when an unintended lane departure is detected (the turn signal is not engaged to indicate the driver's desire to change lanes), the electric power-steering system will introduce a gentle torque that will help guide the driver back toward the center of the lane. Introduced on the Lancia Delta in 2008, this system earned the Italian Automotive Technical Association's Best Automotive Innovation of the Year Award for 2008. Peugeot introduced the same system as Citroën in its new 308.

...
Wikipedia