Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems has received renewal of a two-year regulatory exemption for its lane-departure warning system from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The Elyria, Ohio, company’s AutoVue LDW system retained the exemption from certain windshield clearance rules, allowing fleets and drivers to continue installing and using AutoVue while remaining within FMCSA regulations.
AutoVue is a vision-based system linking a camera with a 60-degree field of view to an onboard computer that uses image-recognition software to track visible lane markings.
Bendix bought the LDW system in 2011 from Iteris Inc., which held the previous two-year exemption, said Fred Andersky, Bendix’s director of government and industry affairs.
“We wanted to make sure fleets were aware of the exemption” and are able to continue using the LDW system, he told Transport Topics.
“The camera needs to be placed in the sweep area of the windshield wiper, which violates an FMCSA rule about where things can be placed on the windshield,” he said.
AutoVue continually monitors a vehicle’s position and detects when it begins to drift toward an unintended lane change. Upon detection, it emits a “rumble strip” or other audible warning to alert the driver.
Bendix announced the exemption in December, although it took effect in November.
