DRIVER'S SIDE DIATRIBE
By Al Vinikour     

It seems to me that several years ago I wrote a piece on how vital a new technology called Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) was to safety for the everyday driver. I say it “seems” to be but I keep lousy records so I’m going to have to depend on the senility of my readers to forgive whether I did or not.

BLIS is a system whereby when a vehicle is in your blind spot — and believe me, every vehicle has one unless you’re in a convertible with the top down, and even then, if a cinder hits you in the eye, you will have a blind spot — a sensor will pick it up and indicate this, generally through a light in the outside rearview mirror.

If you’re going to change lanes and for some unknown reason you’re a law-abiding citizen and use your turn signals to indicate your intentions, BLIS will beep out a warning so you won’t veer into that lane. Or, if you’re that damned stupid, at least it will alert you to the fact that you’re about to have a bad day.

At first this technology was only found basically on luxury cars. However, it has now entered the mainstream of vehicles and it is offered on virtually all new cars. And it truly is a safety device, ranking right up there with airbags, disc brakes and electronic stability controls — all or most of which are standard equipment on every vehicle sold in North America.

I’ll give you an example of how effective this system is: I like to think that I’m a better-than-average driver and my accident record, while not 100% perfect, has a higher percentage of success than my academic career every did. Last week I had a 2012 Jaguar XJL Portfolio and I was driving on the freeway with my wife, enjoying the hell out of feeling like “Mr. Vinikour.” I was in the middle lane and did not see any traffic around me. Imagine my shock when the notification light went off in my right-hand rear view mirror, telling me that somebody was moving up my left flank, directly in my blind spot.

This same scenario occurred three times that afternoon. With the law of averages, I could have been switching lanes, thinking the world was my oyster, and rammed into the unseen car beside me.

I have yet to talk with any of my auto journalist colleagues who didn’t totally trust BLIS. The same can’t be said for the seemingly-heralded rearview camera. I don’t trust those things as far as I can throw the vehicle they’re installed on and I’ve made my reasons for this known in previous columns.

The trustworthiness of BLIS is far beyond that of rearview cameras. Rearview cameras only cover a finite width of field. But BLIS starts at the right-, or left-rear bumper angle and runs the entire length of the car until the vehicle passing alongside is well beyond the range of the front bumper. (Editor’s note: I have not tested Infiniti’s new Backup Collision Intervention but from what I’ve seen it will offer the same degree of safety from the rear that BLIS does from the side.)

I don’t know what the installation cost is to a manufacturer but en masse it can’t be that unaffordable. This week I’m driving a 2012 Range Rover Evoque and the stand-alone cost for this option is $450 (on a $57,545 vehicle).  Just to show you by comparison how affordable that is the paint premium for the Range Rover – Firenze Red – costs $950 – over TWICE the cost of a life-saving device like BLIS.

Just compare that to the cost of having a side-impact collision because a vehicle in your blind spot and you meet up on the highway. Most insurance policies have at least a $500 deductible clause. So in the case of the Range Rover that offers BLIS for $450…you’re already $50 in the hole before you get out of your vehicle to check out the damage.

There are a lot of things — too many things — that I have a problem with the government being involved in setting mandates. If I want a 20-ounce coffee I don’t care if you call it “Venti” or “Plenty” as long as I can still purchase it and it’s mine. But I would have NO problem with any National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s head mandating that by the year 20Whatever, BLIS has to be standard equipment on all vehicles sold in the United States.

Just remember…surprises are fine for birthdays and other celebrations; when driving through heavy traffic Mr. Surprise is not your friend.