gosh! thats nice, pitty the cars are so damn uuuugly!

that press release was huge and I am far too lazy to read it. And yes, the majority of fords suck.

"Thank God my radar told me that pole was there! Now I can SAFELY pull onto the sidewalk!"

The big problem is most of us don't know how to properly adjust our rear view mirrors.
Here is the right way to do it... [www.cartalk.com]

@BigDogues: i tried that once, but I notice (probably because I wasn't used to it, and didn't do it for very long) but you lose a point of reference when you don't have a tiny bit of your car on the side view mirror.

I think this is a pretty neat feature, its a cheap solution to a pretty major problem. The problem is if it ever malfunctions and people sue Ford because it didn't work correctly and then instead of just barely not drowning, Ford will just die out...

I went the really low tech way and bought those small stick-on, round convex mirrors that fit in the corners of traditional side mirrors. They are like $3 at the auto parts store and no more blind spots. I am probably the only person left on the planet that actually signals and looks before I change lanes though.

ok so does it really shoot yellow rings at the cars like in the video? someone's gotta ask the stupid question of the day.

Ok so the little TINY red light in the mirror will tell you someone is in your blind spot. Come to New Jersey and you'll see the blind spot isn't the problem, the people that just don't even look in the mirror is the big problem. Most people just glance quickly while barely paying attention so a tiny little red dot isn't going to help any. I do however like the backing up part of it.

Perhaps a more effective method than the red light would be a grand daughter or grand son to yell in Martha's ear something to the effect of "Grandma! Watch OUT! You just pulled in front a SEMI!"

Damn... my radar detector will be going off more than normal now! grrrr!

This is just F ing great. Now, instead of "I didn't see you" we'll get a better excuse, like, "Oh, I thought all cars had radars now".

And Ford owned Volvo was the "inventor" of this safety-gadget.

seriously, trucks have had convex mirrors so truckers can see their blind spots. Great job catching up to the times Ford.

Scoff if you want, but the cross-traffic thing is truly useful. Backing a small Mazda out from between SUV's is a scary exercise every single time. And where I live, it's a frequent one.

Granola Bars, Ford!

The mirrors do work Ford. You can't improve driver's bad habits with some high tech device that people won't pay attention to in the first place. Plus it's just another distraction in the car don't you think?

re: "And Ford owned Volvo was the "inventor" of this safety-gadget."

And Volvo has already released it on the 2008 XC-70 (I bought one last week). It's a pretty cool device.

Auto manufaturers are finding more and more ways for people to be lazy drivers. Driving Instruction in the US is a joke and most 16 year olds are NOT ready to get behind the wheel alone. Here's one more gadget to ensure they remain horrible drivers. Fail.

My Volvo C30 has BLIS, but the warning light is inside the car, larger and easier to see than the red light in Ford's mirror.

The rear parking assist radar feature should tell you if someone is passing behind you (but may not see someone coming). Better to back into the spot anyway if you want to exit safely.

@Curves: I look and signal as well. There's still a few of us left, allbeit not many.

This is great...now i can talk on my cell phone, drink my coffee, read a text message, change the radio station, watch a video...AND change lanes at the same time...and if something goes wrong.

"It's not my fault, my car told me you weren't there"

C'mon geeks, FORD's Blind Spot Monitoring System isn't new at all! The AUDI Q7 has it for years and it is working damn well. FORD go ahead - we're still waiting for a zero-emission flying car - that would be impressive!

FORD's new Blind Spot Monitoring System using radar? C'mon geeks, AUDI's Q7 has it for years now... Lame!

Neat. I would much rather spend the extra money on this feature than do something really inconvenient like turning my head before I change lanes. That's way too much of a hassle.

@thistle.john: Actually, the new Taurus for 2010 is going to be pretty sweet--Euro designed with Mondeo cues (i.e. James Bond's last rental in Casino Royale). Ford and GM are starting to get a clue about product design and quality. Hopefuly a sign of more to come...

Spy photo: [www.edmunds.com]

In the distant future, cars will be able to recycle the hula hoops for re-use at a later time.

For now, refill packs are available, but there have been incidents of homeless people darting out into the highway to gather them for resale.

Use it sparingly is what I'm saying.

The radar's nice, but did it really take an auto manufacturer until 2009 to decide to make those convex blind-spot mirrors they've been selling at the gas station for the past 40 years an OEM option?

I wonder if the stock mirrors are built in or if they just fall off about the 30th time you slam your door ...

Ping.....Ping .....(silence) There is a car behind us captain. it knows where we are.......DEPTH CHARGES!!! AHHHH

@jetexas: They're built into the glass. Read the press release.

@trendspotter: So you're saying the whole mirror falls into the road when you slam the door?

@Curves: I love those little stick-ons!

@Droter This feature was first available on the 2007 S80 and was in fact developed by Volvo.

Ford has been using a lot of Volvo tech lately but usually references Volvo's contribution....such as when the commercials came out about partnering with Volvo to make Fords safer.

I wonder how Ford justifies their claims: "first to market with the Blind Spot Mirror" & "Ford's push to develop the Blind Spot Mirror and migrate it across its lineup is a direct response to customer research"

Perhaps Ford really is preparing to dump Volvo....

@Curves: No, us wannabe pilots tend to drive careful like too. ;)

I can just see it now "officer I changed lanes into the school bus full of nuns because the little red light must have burnt out!"

@Stalhandske: I'm always glad to see other people out point "credit stealing" as Ford has done here.

Volvo did this. Ford bought Volvo. Ford spins release as invention? What happened to all those years of being told not to plagiarize our homework???

this works just like backup sensors, but they just keep em on 24/7 and added a little light in your mirror.

@zenpoet: I love them too. ;) A low tech, lost cost solution. As for how long they last, I had them on a car I had for years with no problems, and installed them on my current vehicle the day I brought it home, both sides. Something else they show that the sensors might not...kids toys (or kids) in the driveway. $3 to avoid a fender bender or worse is what I call significant ROI.

If you have blind spots, you're setting your side mirrors in too shallow. Try this, tilt your head towards the door and move the mirror until you can barely see the back of your car. Repeat the same adjustment on the other mirror.

Now drive up to a parked car and move forwards/backwards past it and you'll see that you no longer have a blind spot. As the car disappears from the rear-view mirror, it pops up in the side mirror. Then as it starts to disappear from the side mirror, you should be able to see it with your peripheral vision.

typical feature needed for the typical ford driver

There are going to be people that, just like the GPS, will not think and solely reliay on the collision system and end up wrecking on something and then will sue Ford.

Some need to get over themselves. It is a good idea and a nice addition to any car. Should one solely rely on this technology? No. Is it useful? Yes.

US Air Force reducing training costs by encouraging Ford to train future fighter pilots in Ford Taurus

I hope Ford didn't make the sensor visible on the body. You'll have kids running around neighborhoods covering sensors with tape.

My Mazda CX9 has this now. Very handy and effective.

And yeah, the holier than thou douchebags need to just shut it. They're the same folks that argued that seatbelts were for bad drivers. That airbags were for bad drivers. That mirrors were for bad drivers becuase "real" drivers don't need any of that stuff.

It's just one more good tool to make driving a bit safer and increase your situational awareness.

Ford will be first to market with the Blind Spot Mirror, answering customers' demands for better visibility as they change lanes or parallel park. This affordable mirror technology will first launch early next year and find its way onto many future Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles as standard equipment.

WTF, are they serious?

I bought stick on blind spot mirrors for my car a decade ago ($1.99 at kragen) and they're still stuck on there doing their job. Tons of manufacturers already stick them right on their cars?

/is this a left over April fools joke?

Mercedes-Benz has had BSA (Blind-Spot Assist) with the Distronic Package which also includes Active Cruise Control that keeps a certain distance from the car in front of you in their CL and S classes since their 2007 models. Same exact feature.

Well the real deal is Ford is putting all that fancy crap you like to show off from your over priced luxury vehicles into all their models! And it won't stop as Ford gets leaner and meaner you will see a decline in the fancy vehicle market as more and more switch over to the not so pricey car market...

After all as more and more states adopt to over taxing the wealthy sooner or later mommy and daddy won't be shelling out the cash for your fancy rides anymore...

The problem with adjusting your outside mirrors out or with no body reference is that you could create another blind spot between your inside mirror field of view and your outside mirror field of view...especially in a vehichle with wide B and C pillars. The Blind Spot Mirror allows drivers to aim their mirror with slight body reference and still see their blind spot outside the main mirror's view.

If you read the article, you'd see this is an engineered solution and is far better than any stick on spotter mirror you can buy at the store. It is aimed only at the blind spot, whereas a stick on spotter shows everything in all directions and thus giving the driver too much information that can cause confusion.

Also, notice in the article on Ford's website that "they will be first to market"...meaning that other manufacturers are sure to follow if they haven't already...