Nov

Electronic Deer Alert Warns Away The Biggest Wreck Causer

Posted by Steve Anderson Published in Accessories, Business, Cars, Enviroment

We all know the dangers of driving after dark in the months of, roughly, October and November. With deer season starting and the deer in rut as well, there’s a lot more of them out and a lot more of them moving than there were.

And we’ve all heard about plenty of products that purport to keep deer away, one of these we’re talking about today, the electronic deer alert system.

This one operates by sending out a series of sonic and ultrasonic pulses, audible only to deer and other animals, which in turn warns them to stay away from the road. Being that it’s electronic, rather than wind activated, it gives an extra measure of reliability, or so it says.

The problem with devices like these is that it’s tough to prove their value. If I offered to sell you a rock that keeps tigers away, on the basis that you don’t see any tigers near that rock, would you buy it? That’s why I have my doubts about this one too, but if it worked, it’d be a great gadget.

Tags: car deer, car deer collision, deer, deer season, electronic deer alert, electronic pulses

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Oct

Ever Wonder How That BMW Night Vision Works?

Posted by Steve Anderson Published in Accessories, BMW, Business, Cars

It may be one of the most awesome ideas to hit a car in a long time, but BMW’s got a line of cars–specifically, the 7-series Sedan–with a whole slew of options, the most interesting of which is easily the night vision option.

Why is it so interesting, you ask? Well, it’s not REALLY night vision at all, not in the conventional sense. See, in standard night vision, specialized components collect and amplify ambient light, thus allowing one to see where there was entirely too little light to see by before. While the BMW night vision DOES get some augmentation from the headlights, its primary imaging source is a thermal camera, making this more of a heat-detection system rather than a night vision system.

I’m not saying that this isn’t useful–far from it! Living in an area that sees HUGE amounts of car-deer collisions every year, I’d love to be able to see those stupid things coming by something a little more reliable than my high beams. But it’d cost more to get the device than it would to replace my car…it’s part of an option package that can add upward of twenty six thousand bucks to the price of an already-salty BMW.