Nairda
Very ambitious with a lot of single points of failure. The burden being largely on the driver of the bus to keep his camera equipment clean and functional. Additionally, the bobbing window can be distracting in trying to keep a steady distance from the bus.
Would a simpler idea not be to mount a small forward facing narrow field of view camera on the outer edges each wing mirror with permanent 2-4 x zoom. Small LCD in the car somewhere to view both. It would give the driver that additional 40-60cm to peek at the road ahead. An even smarter system would turn the cameras relative to the orientation of the wheels so you can look into bends when overtaking.
Slowburn
I would rather just stick with the mark 1 eyeball.
TheSplund
Wouldn't it be simpler to just mount a large LCD on the back of the bus, perhaps with slat/shutter system overlaying it to reduce the viewing angle of the screen so that you only see what's ahead when directly behind (like the slats on some traffic lights)? It'd be useful for all road users including cyclists and pedestrians.
Aaron Garrett
Most large vehicle's drivers sit higher up and can see farther down the road. Most large vehicles stop slower than cars. How often are large vehicles rear-ended by cars? How about you put this tech in the blind spots of cars, like each pillar.
Andrew Larmour
I think they're over thinking the problem. A simpler solution would be to mount a screen on the back of the bus showing a vew of the road ahead of the bus - no special intervehicle comms, no special windscreen on the following car, just the same result for any old car or motorbike that is stuck behind the large vehicle. If it makes overtaking the large vehicle safer, then those large vehicles are less likely to be involved in accidents and there is your reason for instalation.... I think the technology is fantatic, but it pays to remember the KISS priciple - as it will result in simpler, cheaper, more reliable and robust systems.
SamB
Great idea but if it's a webcam on a dash I think the driver behind will end up seeing all sorts of images that are not the road in front of the vehicle. I'll leave it to your imagination but needless to say it requires everyone to be on their best behaviour.
piperTom
Even IF the idea is deemed valuable enough, it requires wide acceptance in order to do anything. By the time it could possibly achieve that much popularity, most cars & trucks will be driving themselves without help from the occupants.
Dewi Owen
Why not follow what the highway code recommends? -Back off from the larger vehicle to allow better visibility?? Or does that seem too much like a step back to basic driving skills? More patience and sensible risk management!
Dekarate
And if they hack it to show a open road and there is a lot of oncoming cars, who lives, who dies and who gets sued
Gregg Eshelman
How much will the subscription to the service cost per year?
A GPS in "3D" view is like having the ability to see through obstacles like mountains and around corners. Very useful when driving in mountains and canyons where the roads are all twisty.
Much more useful than the generic curve and crooked road signs because the GPS display is much closer to the actual shape of the road.