Does your car have a Blind Spot Monitor or Warning system?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m curious to see if anyone else on here has a Blind Spot Monitoring System or Blind Spot Warning System on their vehicle?

If so, did you find it useful immediately or did it take time to acclimate to the way it works?

Or do you have it and despise, clicking it off every time drive your car?

Our 2012 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring included Mazda’s BSM (Blind Spot Monitoring) standard when we bought it about six months ago. I was certain that it was a useless feature and if a driver properly adjusts all thier mirrors, there won’t be a blind spot! I was not happy when the salesman told us that you can turn the system off with a button near the steering wheel, but it automatically resets when the car is turned off and restarted!

The CX-9 is quite deceptive in terms of size, it’s a LOT bigger than you realize! And big vehicles often have some ares that mirrors can’t fully cover. Within a few days, I was in love with BSM!
On the CX-9, a radar sensor is located at both corners of the rear bumper. When a vehicle enters the ‘zone’ one either side, a yellow warning symbol (a little picture of one car driving into another) appears in the top right corner of the rearview mirror on the side that the ‘blind’ vehicle is located. It’s very easy to ignore in daylight driving.

If you active your turn signal in the direction where a vehicle is detected, a warning beep/alarm will sound to let you know something is in the way!

I find it very useful when driving in heavy traffic on the interstate. I am always aware of what’s going on around me and if I’m in a position to change lanes at any given moment. It’s also useful when I’m in right lane of a two-lane interstate and approaching an on-ramp full of merging cars! I instantly know if I can get over to the left to make room for them or if I need to slow down instead to let them flow into traffic…

WORD OF CAUTION- I drove the CX-9 for almost two weeks solid. The first day I went back to driving my ’06 Mazda3, I almost caused two accidents by changing lanes when someone was right there at my rear corner! I didn’t see the litle warning light, so I thought it was clear…only my car doesn’t have BSM, which I clearly forgot for a moment…

2

Are you one of those people who doesn’t bother to turn your head and look before changing lanes?

I hope not.

People on motorcycles die because of people like that. I really hope you’re always turning your head and looking before changing lanes, regardless of what your mirrors or your BSM system is telling you.

Another reason to maintain a habit of looking over your shoulder.

A close friend had an analogous lapse several years ago. He had become accustomed to riding a motorcycle with ABS. One day he was riding a non-ABS motorcycle, and had to do a quick braking maneuver. He grabbed the lever hard and locked up the front wheel, and as it started to slide out he instinctively stabbed the ground with one leg. Mind you this was on pavement at 30+ MPH. The bike recovered without crashing, but that stab broke his tibial plateau, necessitating surgery and a lengthy/painful recovery.

Moral of the story: enjoy the benefits of advanced technology backing you up, but don’t stop being a good, vigilant driver because of it.

3

I have ALWAYS been vigilant about doing a quick over-the-shoulder glance just to be certain it was clear, even if I saw nothing in my mirrors!

I’ve been driving my older car a lot this past week. I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but the technological assist actually made me a less attentive and more dangerous driver. :smack:

4

“Does your car have a Blind Spot Monitor or Warning system?”

It did have, until the divorce.

5

My car has a side view camera (in addition to the rear view camera) that activates when I turn on my right blinker. I rarely look at it. It’s the same view as my mirror, I still glance over my shoulder and I have a difficult time gauging how far back a car is based on the camera. There’s tick marks on it and I imagine one of them indicates the rear of the car and if something in the camera is behind that mark I’m safe to move over, but I have a hard time trusting it. I’ve tried several times to get used to it, but I just can’t. Sorry.
Next, it has a FCW system. That’s Forward Collision Warning. It beeps if I get to close to a car in front of me. I have no idea where the sensors are , but if I put my blinker on with the intention of moving behind someone into a tight space, it’ll beep at me, so there must be some near the side of the car. In addition to the beeping, it flashes a light on the windshield. The range seems to depend on other things such as how fast I’m going and or if I’m braking (and how hard I’m braking). I’ve also found it’s REALLY sensitive in winter. But I chalk that up to snow on the sensors.
Lastly, it has a Lane Deviation Warning. This monitors the lane markers and sets off an alarm if you wander over one without your blinker on. That got turned off really quickly. I found out that I (and probably most people) go over the lane lines way more often then I need to know about. Going around a curve, it beeps. Moving into the left turn lane, it beeps. Just getting a bit to close to the line, it beeps. It was also useless in winter. It couldn’t see the lines or it saw them where they weren’t.

Oh, 2013 Honda Accord.

6

I drive an Infiniti JX 2013 and it has everything. I chose every option package you could buy when I built it online. It took about a week to get used to it but I’m sure there are features I haven’t used yet. I like the front and side cameras and the breaking and blind spot breaking.

7

Mazda offers the Smart City Brake Support system on their CX-5 SUV and on the 2014 Mazda6 so far. It works in conjunction with the Forward Obstruction Warning System. If it detects anything located in your path of travel, it alerts you with either a warning light first or light and warning alarm if a potential collision seems likely or imminent! If primes the brakes, reducing pedal travel required for maximum stopping force. If the driver fails to respond, the car will automatically apply full braking power and simultaneously cut power to the wheels! In tests, it looks neat.

The 2014 Mazda6 also has a Lane Departure Warning System, which could prevent someone from falling asleep behind the wheel or at least make them hand up their cell phone and try staying in a single lane! It is an audible warning, but I think Cadillac has the right idea with Land Departure Warning- the driver’s seat starts vibrating whenever the system detects the car leaving the lane without a turn signal. My butt rumbling would certainly jolt me awake much faster than warning ‘chime’…

The 2013 CX-9 added Revere Sensors on Touring and GT models for the first time. The CX-5 and Mazda6 both offer them as dealer installed accessories. My previous SUV was a 2007 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer and I despised that vehicle with more passion (and bile) than I’ve ever felt about anything before! But it had the Rear Backup Sensors and I do miss not having them on my 2012 CX-9.

The 2013 CX-9 also has the driver’s side door mirror that tilts down when the gearshift moved to the R position! My cousin has this feature on her 2009 Lexus GX470, except it tilts the mirrors down on both sides. In Los Angeles, where she lives, they come in very handy when you’re trying to squeeze a huge SUV into a narrow parallel parking spot. But even worse than trying to fit in a spot, you don’t want to slam one of the factory chrome rims into the curb either! So both mirrors down are nice.

Mazda has also introduced Radar Cruise Control which uses radar sensors to maintain the proper distance behind someone else; even if they slow down or vary their speed randomly…it just keeps the space gap between the two cars to prevent any possible collision.

I tend to be very disinterested in AUTO or Automatic features that you set and let them choose when/if to activate and at what speed and for how long…Automatic Rain-sensing Wipers are a prime example of features I find useless and irritating! And regardless of how many people love automatic climate control, I have NEVER experienced a system in any of my cars or many others I’ve driven that works to my liking!!! Honestly, I don’t know what freakin temperature I want it to be- I just know that I want it cooler, I don’t want the blower fan to kick into hyper-drive the instant I start the car in an attempt to get to a lower temp ASAP I just know that I want it to blow out the dash vents or dash and floor together, I want it to feel cooler than it is now and I don’t want it to blow freezing air for a few minutes then totally shut off agiain…I use my three knobs and ignore the Auto part of my Climate Control system!

Automatic headlights are another feature I have issues with. One of the main issues I have with these is that Georgia law requires headlights to be turned on if you see a drop of rain on the windshield! Regardless of the how much it’s raining, if the sensor doesn’t detect that it’s dark enough to turn on the headlights, it leaves you driving illegally and unsafely. But due to the Electroluminescent Gauges in most new cars, there’s no dark instrument panel to force you to think, it’s raining so I need to turn the lights on!

All CX-9s have an auto-ON setting for the headlights. But only the GT also has an automatic OFF setting, they stay on or 60 seconds. It’s actually nice to know that I couldn’t lock myself of the car if I tried, but no big whoop.

8

Nope, my car does not have a blind spot warning system. I don’t need any more warning beeps and boops while I’m driving (the seat belt/backup cam/you forgot your keys warnings are quite enough, thanks).

At some point, I just want a car and not a nannymobile.

9

Even though I do like the Blind Spot Monitor (because the Mazda CX-9 is considered a Full-size Crossover (or CUV) and that big butt does create hiding spots big enough to make a car momentarily hidden without the BSM!

But so much of the other high-tech features- Automatic Braking, Lane Departure Warning, Radar Forward Collision Warning System (or just look out the windshield), and so many of the other electronic ‘nannies’ are starting to get ridiculous! And the worst part is that you have no choice but to pay for them and be stuck with them (even if you never use them) to get other features that you do want!

My CX-9 has the Backup Camera that automatically comes on when you put the shifter into Reverse. But I can’t even begin to orient myself in terms of where I am physically and what I’m looking at on the radio display from the camera. Honestly, I haven’t even glanced down at the display in several months, I just ignore it. I decided that I would do more damage trying to use it when I was trying to back up my driveway looking at the display and I got off the edge of the driveway and caused several small tree branches to run down the side of my new car!!! When I focused on that damn display, my peripheral vision disappeared!

Luckily, Mazda uses high-end paint and the extra-cost Pearl finish on mine made it simple to buff the scratches from the tree branches out by hand!

10

Mrs. Ducati is not a good backer. She’ll hit a bank, a tree, a fence, or anything that’s not yelling at her.

When we got our first SUV in 1994, I put a back-up beeper on it to give people behind her a fighting chance. Now, though, the Yukon and Mercedeses all have back up cameras, and MBs have a whole safety package working for you.

Now she hardly hits a thing!

11

I’m all for assistance, in the form of an “extra pair of eyes”, but I don’t like intrusive assistance that automatically alters steering or brake feel (one function of most radar cruise systems, is the addition of pre-crash tech which automatically increases brake boost…I’m not a huge fan of that). Lane departure and parking sensors, backup cameras, etc. are all fine, since they only increase my area of vision. However, I still primarily adjust and properly use my mirrors for pretty much everything, and include head checks.

With some obvious exceptions, I haven’t touched my wipers, headlights, or climate control for years, thanks to automatic settings. I consider them all to be great additions.

The wipers can be adjusted a multitude of ways for sensitivity and it’s nice to not have to switch them on and off if you pass through storm clouds or more/less amounts of rain while driving. The added bonus is that they increase/decrease their activity, depending on the speed of the vehicle.

The headlights can also be adjusted for sensitivity, and act similar to the wipers. Since most cars have daytime running lights, I’m typically not overly concerned with them not coming on when it rains, but most cases, they’re already on.

Automatic climate control is something I’ve completely accepted. The vehicle doesn’t blow air until the heater core or condenser is ready, so it’s not doing double work. It will also blow hot or cool air, and control fan speed, as necessary, in order to maintain a given temperature. That’s leagues better than having to try and manually adjust these individually, IMO. I pretty much just set and forget.

12

Does that tell you when the British are coming are tell the British that they’ve been spotted?

13

Only if you have one or more of the British stuck to your rear bumper…

They beep when they sense something X feet away and the frequency of the beep increases the closer you get to it. But the only problem occures when you push it a bit too much and the beeps stop, but you hear and feel a distinct THUD! In my previous SUV, an '07 Explorer that I hated, I made that mistake of trying to inch back just a wee bit more despite the beep being non-stop, and I back right THRU the garage door…it was time for a new one anyway!

My mom holds the world title for screwing up in Reverse! She drives a school bus for special needs children and parks it in the driveway whenever she’s not on her route. She got new, much more modern bus a few years ago with A/C and even the sliding window by the driver is power!

The gearshifter is electronic, not a lever like it always has been and still is most cars! Somehow she put it in Reverse (but it was backed into the driveway when she did this) and she backed into her Grand Cherokee so hard that it crushed the front end and hood ANd it knocked the Jeep into the corner support of the house/garage, bascially knocking the corner of wall of the house completely loose AND crumpling the garage door beyond repair!

My initial reaction, after hysterical laughter and taking photos for to mock her in the future, was- should this woman be driving a bus full of children around???

But it was actually her very first at-fault accident at the age of 55. And she still has never had a ticket of any kind.

My step-dad asked me how I thought he should file the claim and, my initial reation as a licensed independent agent in this state was to leave me out it!!! But after some thought, I told him the damage to garage and corner of the house would have to be filed on the Homeowners policy and it wasn’t worth the future premium increase to file a claim! He ended up repairing everything house/garage-related for just over $2100, so he would only have got $1100 after deductible from a claim and the premium would have went up $400/year or more!

As for mom’s Jeep, she refused to turn in the accident to the county and have their insurance (on the bus) pay for the damage. It would be the first blemish on her spotless 25 year record as a bus driver.

In Georgia, for some unknown reason, Hit-and-run damage is paid by the Collision coverage on your policy. In most state, hit-and-run is covered by Comprehensive, or most common is under Uninsured Motorist. So whether he told them it was a hit-and-run or that he or my mom hit something, it will still be paid out under an ‘at-fault’ coverage type and will result in a surchage at renewal, in most cases…

Anyway, everything got fixed and I periodically quiz my mom on what she should NOT aim for when backing up in her bus- THE HOUSE is the response I’m looking for…

14

Yeah, my car comes equipped with the “competent driver and properly adjusted mirrors” system. I wish more cars had this, it’s great.

15

I hate to be the one to break this to you, but the two mirrors on the sides are there so you can always see your pretty car’s smooth lines at all times by keeping them pointed inward.

The rearview mirror on the windshield is for application of makeup, checking teeth for food particles and checking your nose for dangling debris…

Who gave you the idea that mirrors could be used to look at other cars in all crazy different directions???

16

Same here. If the mirrors are correctly positioned, you don’t have a ‘blind spot’. And that whole looking over the shoulder thing.

17

Well, if you Yanks would put the mirrors in the proper place, we could avoid all this “blind spot” nonsense…

18

Can you reconcile these two statements?