Patent ID: 8106755

Claim:
A method of operating a system for providing safety for a driver of a vehicle using a low cost vehicle safety system, said method comprising the steps of: a. said system detecting and redundantly validating by means of multiple sensors including radar, video and multi-mode signal processing, objects and potential hazards ahead of the vehicle using three-dimensional radar and video imaging and providing a report of such hazards for driver response, b. said system detecting and redundantly validating, by means of multiple sensors including radar, video, and multi-mode signal processing, objects and potential hazards in lanes of traffic adjacent to said vehicle using two-dimensional radar and video imaging and providing a report of such hazard for driver response, and said system for providing safety for said driver of said vehicle comprising driver-side sensor means and passenger-side sensor means including, three-dimensional millimeter radar transmitter/receiver subsystem means having object location capability to a range of at least 150 meters forward of said vehicle, two-dimensional video subsystem means having object location capability forward of said vehicle to the range of at least 150 meters, two-dimensional millimeter wave radar transmitter/receiver system means having object location capability to a range of at least 20 meters to the side/rear of said vehicle, two-dimensional video subsystem means having object location capability to the range of at least 20 meters to the side/rear of said vehicle, video display screen operatively connected to said driver-side sensor means to present to said driver views of said roadway to the side/rear of the vehicle on driver-side of said vehicle as provided by said driver-side two-dimensional video subsystem, and video display screen operatively connected to said passenger-side sensor means to present to said driver views of said roadway to the side/rear of said vehicle on passenger-side of said vehicle as provided by said passenger-side two-dimensional video subsystem.