(January 30, 2013) Honda's LaneWatch blind spot display has won a Good Housekeeping 2013 "Very Innovative Products" Award (VIP), the only automotive product to earn this distinction for 2013 and one of only nine innovative new product winners overall.

Good Housekeeping's 2013 VIP award winners were chosen from more than 1,500 new products evaluated by the scientists and engineers at the Good Housekeeping Research Institute during the past year in the magazine's product-testing laboratory. Before any product can be named a VIP award winner, it must also pass the Research Institute's evaluations for performance and safety.

Debuting on the all-new 2013 Accord and now also available on the versatile 2013 Crosstour, LaneWatch uses a camera mounted on the passenger-side mirror to display real-time images of the vehicle's right-side blind spot on an 8-inch color dashboard display. The image appears when the right turn signal is activated, or when a button on the end of the turn signal stalk is pressed.

The typical field of view for a passenger-side mirror is approximately 18 to 22 degrees, but the LaneWatch field-of-view is about four times greater, or approximately 80 degrees.

The system helps the driver to see traffic, as well as pedestrians, bicycles or other objects in the vehicle's blind spot. To help make judging distance easier, the display has three reference lines. Drivers are encouraged to visually confirm roadway conditions prior to changing lanes.