Detection systems to keep your car safe on the road

The Mobileye 560 claims to equip any vehicle with mulitple safety systems, including the ability to detect pedestrians and other vehicles.

Many of today’s new cars come loaded with advanced safety features, such as collision warning and blind-spot monitoring. Now you can also equip older models with some of these state-of-the-art safety features and Consumer Reports has put two of them to the test.

The Mobileye 560 is a small camera mounted on the windshield that monitors the road ahead and sends alerts to a small screen or even to your smart phone. It costs $850 plus installation.

Consumer Reports found the Mobileye worked well. Drivers get a lane departure warning if they go over the line without signaling or approach the vehicle in front of them too quickly. And a test using a life-sized dummy found that the Mobileye does alert you if you’re about to hit a pedestrian when going slower than 50 kilometres.

"It's mounted in the front, so what it's seeing is what's in front of you, which is great, but it can't help you out with blind-spot monitoring or a backup camera," said Jim Travers of Consumer Reports.

Another aftermarket device, the $250 Goshers Blind Spot Detection System, alerts you if someone is approaching you on either side.

Testers warn that the Goshers Blind Spot System is not all that easy to install. It took a Consumer Reports mechanic four hours.

Consumer Reports found that both systems worked as advertised,but they are no substitute for simply using your mirrors, paying attention, and looking over your shoulder when you need to, such as when changing lanes.