Revolutionary Lane Departure Warning System Makes Debut on Nissan Infiniti Vehicles

PARIS, France, March 31 --

Valeo today announced that its Lane Departure Warning System employing Iteris' technology will make its market debut in North America on Nissan's Infiniti range. The innovative system is scheduled for introduction on the 2005 model FX and 2006 M45 following their unveiling at the New York Auto show in April 2004.

The Lane Departure Warning System developed for Nissan consists of a miniature video sensor that uses proprietary software algorithms to continuously monitor the lane markings in front of the car. During unintentional lane departures - detected when the driver fails to use the direction indicators - the driver is alerted and then may take corrective action.

"We have successfully developed this Lane Departure Warning System for Nissan who will be the first car maker to install this key driver assistance system on a passenger car in volume production," said Thierry Morin, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer.

"Nissan strives to provide our customers with availability of the most advanced technology to help them operate their vehicles more effectively," said Yasuhiro Shiraishi, Senior Manager, ITS, Chassis Control Systems for Nissan. "Their expertise in the advanced development of vision systems and sensors led to our decision to work with Valeo."

The most common causes of unintentional lane departures are poor driver concentration and inattention. Recent statistics reported that inattention may be a factor in more than 30 per cent of accidents in the United States. The system is expected to contribute to increased driver awareness of the importance of concentration and lane discipline when driving.

Additionally, by providing drivers with a warning of a lane departure, the system may also help to encourage the correct use of direction indicators. Non-use of the indicators is becoming a concern in some countries where as many as one in ten drivers do not use the indicator system before changing lanes.

Following a two-year development with Iteris, this vision technology is now an integral part of Valeo's Driving Assistance Domain that already deploys lighting and wiping as well as ultrasonic, infrared and radar sensing technologies toward the goal of achieving a complete 360 degree surveillance of a vehicle's immediate environment. The successful launch of the lane departure warning system represents Valeo's first vision system with many more applications for front and rear envisaged for the future.

Valeo is an independent industrial group fully focused on the design, production and sale of components, integrated systems and modules for cars and trucks. Valeo ranks among the world's top automotive suppliers. The Group has 129 plants, 65 R&D centres, nine distribution centres and employs 68,200 people in 26 countries worldwide.