Driver tailgating and following aid

Details Driver tailgating and following aid Driver tailgating and following aid

2001-03-30

2004-05-18

Lee, Benjamin C. (Department: 2632)

Communications: electrical

Land vehicle alarms or indicators

Of relative distance from an obstacle

C701S045000, C180S271000, C348S148000, C348S161000, C342S070000, C342S071000, C342S072000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06737963

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to vision systems for vehicles, and more particularly relates to a vehicular vision system which provides a driver of a vehicle with information regarding vehicles that are proximate the driver's vehicle.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A major cause of driving accidents is a driver's inability to recognize the proximity of another vehicle to the driver's vehicle and that the driver is in an unsafe situation which requires the driver's full attention. These unsafe driving situations typically occur when the driver is following too closely to a vehicle which is in front of the driver or when another vehicle is following the driver's vehicle too closely.
Most drivers do not fully appreciate that as the speed of the vehicle increases, the following distance should also increase to provide sufficient time to react to an event. That is, the faster a vehicle is traveling, the more driving distance (safe distance between vehicles) is needed in order to take appropriate action (i.e., stop the vehicle, swerve, etc.) to avoid an accident.
It would therefore be beneficial to have a vehicular vision system which provides a driver of a vehicle with information regarding vehicles that are proximate the driver's vehicle, and identify situations which may be unsafe by taking into account the distance of the driver's vehicle from other vehicles which are in front of or behind the driver's vehicle, and by taking into account the speed of travel of the driver's vehicle.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular warning system which provides a driver of a vehicle with a warning that the driver is following too closely to the car which is in front of the driver's vehicle.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a vehicular warning system which provides the driver of a vehicle with a warning that a vehicle which is following the driver's vehicle is following too closely.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an alarm which advises the driver of an unsafe following distance.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a vehicular warning system which takes into account the driver's reaction time when determining whether an unsafe driving situation exists.
In accordance with one form of the present invention, a vehicular warning system includes a distance determiner for determining a distance of the vehicle from objects which are leading or following the vehicle, a speedometer for determining a speed of the vehicle, and an alarm, wherein if the speed of the vehicle is greater than a predetermined speed, and the distance of the vehicle from another object is less than a predetermined distance, then the alarm is activated to advise the driver that at the speed the vehicle is traveling, the distance between the vehicle and the object is not a safe traveling distance.
A preferred form of the vehicular warning system as well as other embodiments, objects, features, and advantages of this invention will be apparent in the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.


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