Continental has upgraded its warning system which detects vehicles in the driver's blind spot; when reversing out of a parking space, a new generation of sensors warns the driver of a potential collision with vehicles passing behind.

Accidents when moving into or out of parking spaces drive up insurance companies’ costs; reversing out of a parking space often leads to serious accidents involving personal injuries. When reversing out, the usual reason for these accidents is because drivers either fail to see a vehicle or cyclist approaching from the side or they see them too late. In order to avoid such accidents,

Continental, the international automotive supplier, has developed an electronic aid for this maneuver as part of its ContiGuard® safety concept. The Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA) system uses the same radar infrastructure used for detecting vehicles in the blind spot (Blind Spot Detection (BSD)). The BSD sensors have been suitably upgraded in order to be able to meet the requirement for greater precision.

"This new driver assistance system makes use of our unique signal processing capability which has been upgraded so as to offer additional functions. Multiple use of the sensor hardware makes new advanced driver assistance systems more economical. And the more vehicles which are fitted with these systems, the safer our roads will become overall", said Wolfgang Fey, director development advanced driver assistance systems of Continental's Chassis & Safety Division. Initial series production of the new RTCA advanced driver assistance system is planned for 2013.