Drivers need to concentrate on the road ahead, so they have limited awareness of potential dangers, such as other vehicles approaching from the side or behind. There are also certain blind spots around the vehicle. To resolve these issues, Mazda is proactively advancing development of technologies that complement the driver's own abilities.

Nearly everyone has been surprised by a car suddenly appearing to the side when they are about to change lanes. If you are paying too much attention to maintaining a safe distance between the car in front, you can neglect to monitor the situation to the rear. Even checking the side mirrors does not provide an accurate idea of the distance and relative speed of an approaching vehicle. Mazda is an industry leader in developing blind spot monitoring technology. Our systems detect following vehicles and alert the driver to the potential danger. An LED light comes on when a vehicle enters the detection area. The light flashes and an audible alert enforces the warning should the driver then activate the turn signal. In North America, Mazda has introduced this technology in the Mazda CX-9 as the Blind Sport Monitoring (BSM) system. A similar system, called Rear Vehicle Monitoring (RVM), is equipped in the Mazda6 (known as Mazda Atenza in Japan). Both systems are highly effective in preventing accidents during lane changing, and we expect their use to grow.

Entering and exiting a garage can be very dangerous. You might easily hit a person or an object around your vehicle that you haven't noticed. Accidents are especially common when exiting a garage because people don't often check their surroundings before entering their vehicle.
Mazda has two types of system to make low-speed maneuvers safer.

Mazda developed a parking assist system for vehicles such as minivans and SUVs which have relatively large blind spots. Cameras covering the blind spots (1 - in front of the bonnet, 2 - below the passenger side window, 3 - below the rear window). The images are displayed on the navigation system monitor to help the driver see around the vehicle.

An ultrasonic sonar is embedded in the rear bumper (front bumper as well on some models) to detect objects within a 2-meter range. The system informs the driver of any objects in the detection area and the approximate distance with an audible alert. This system is available for the Mazda6 (known as Mazda Atenza in Japan) and Mazda3 (known as Mazda Axela in Japan) as a factory-installed option in any market in the world. In Japan, this system is available as an accessory.