The Features And Future Of Honda LaneWatch
Automobile technology has been developing constantly. One of its sectors that receives the most attention is road safety. Some automakers have introduced exclusive safety technology besides standard features for their manufactured vehicles such as Toyota Safety Sense and Nissan ProPILOT Assist Technology. Honda LaneWatch is a similar safety package for Honda vehicles.
What Is Honda LaneWatch?
Honda LaneWatch is an innovative feature that works like a blind spot monitoring system to reduce the risk of collision. The system includes a camera on the passenger side mirror to monitor everything happening on that side.
The camera-based assist displays a live video feed of your car’s right-side blind spot on the infotainment screen. It is automatically activated whenever the car’s turning signal is on. Manual activation or deactivation is possible with the push of a button atop the turn-signal stalk. Just flick the switch when you are changing or merging into a lane to the right side. It will also be helpful at the time of parallel parking.
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The biggest plus point of the LaneWatch is that it covers four times more area than an average side mirror.
The Advantages Of Honda LaneWatch
When launched in 2012, most Honda users liked the safety feature for simplicity and usefulness. It shows only one lane instead of two and does not work very well at night but people still loved it for these plus points:
By providing wider coverage for the side mirrors, the safety option comes handy in tricky conditions or when you are driving at high speeds.
The LaneWatch is a great feature for protecting pedestrians and cyclists. They are the most vulnerable on the road because they often end up in a vehicle’s blind spot for their small size. Also, if there is a collision, they are the ones to be severely injured or dead.
The system blocks the stereo and navigation controls when activated. However, there is no need to switch radio stations when you are changing the lane. Plus, you can manually switch the LaneWatch off if needed to activate the navigation control.
The Future Of LaneWatch Safety Package
Being an affordable safety feature, Honda users highly appreciate the LaneWatch system. However, the automaker might drop this system in their new cars. The company’s senior product manager Gary Robinson said in a recent meeting with the New England Motor Press Association that they were unlikely to include LaneWatch in future models. Rather, they would focus on developing the traditional blind spot technology.
For some time, Honda had said nothing about continuing the LaneWatch for the upcoming Accord models, which have the system from the 2013 versions. In fact, except for a few models, almost no Honda vehicle that had been launched in the last two years had the LaneWatch option.
Currently, you will have the feature in only six models: Ridgeline, Insight, HR-V, Fit, Clarity, and Civic. It is highly unlikely that the upcoming versions of these models will have this option.
