Cadillac XTS to feature vibrating seat to help drivers avoid crashes | CarAdvice

Car Advice
  • Home
  • »  Cadillac XTS to feature vibrating seat to help drivers avoid crashes

Cadillac XTS to feature vibrating seat to help drivers avoid crashes

By Tim Beissmann
FIND DEALS

The all-new Cadillac XTS will become the first vehicle in the world to feature a vibrating seat that is designed to warn drivers of crash threats when driving and parking.

The Cadillac Safety Alert System sends pulse patterns through the left and right sides of the seat base to alert drivers of potential dangers, such as drifting out of a lane of traffic or edging towards an object while parking.

General Motors says research shows the system can “quickly and accurately” focus driver attention on the direction of potential dangers, working in tandem with visual alerts.

The seat forms part of Cadillac’s driver awareness and assist packages, which incorporate features such as forward collision alert, lane departure warning, blind sport assist, rear cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, collision preparation and automatic braking.

The Safety Alert Seat relies on a number of sensors and cameras to help determine when vibration warnings should be activated.

General Motors active safety technical fellow Raymond Kiefer said the concept was similar to tapping someone on the shoulder get their attention.

“Using the tactile sense to communicate crash threat direction provides an effective and intuitive way to cut through the clutter of visual and auditory sensory information that drivers routinely experience,” Kiefer said.

“Vibrating alerts also may help drivers who do not hear beeping alerts due to hearing loss or competing noises, and may be preferred by drivers and passengers who might be annoyed by beeps and shut crash avoidance features off.

“The last thing we want is for drivers to turn off features with safety benefits.”

The Cadillac XTS is a brand-new full-size luxury sedan designed to replace the DTS. It is based on the Epsilon II platform, which will be shared with the 2014 Chevrolet Impala.

Production of the 2013 Cadillac XTS begins in Ontario, Canada, in May. Cadillac’s ATS sedan and SRX crossover will also adopt the Safety Alert System later in 2012.


 

  • Gerhrad Schrieber

    It is great to see car manufacturers embracing new vehicle safety technologies and offering it to their customers. While it is great to see car manufacturers pioneer new technologies such as this mentioned system, more credit should be given to developers of the true pioneers of safety solutions such as forward collision avoidance, blind spot alert, rear cross traffic alert. The other being the pedestrian airbag. These mentioned systems were born out of the Mercedes Benz safety concept vehicle presented to the world media in 2009 and which now slowly are being implemented by more mainstream brands. The pedestrian airbag is also one such type of system however with due respect to Volvo they just haven’t perfected the system properly. Mercedes Benz will be showcasing its new groundbreaking safety systems in future models soon to be released which will reaffirm its position as the leader in global car safety. This will include the pedestrian airbag which will be designed to be more effective than those found in competitors vehicles. While the efforts of others should be applauded it is disappointing to note the lack of acknowledgment by rivals towards implementing ideas first developed by Mercedes Benz. Read more about Mercedes unparalleled safety record and technologies on the internet or head to a showroom today for a demonstration.

    • Lucii Pooky

      What M-B dealer do you work at?

    • Conchi One

      Been working for MB long have we?

      You want credit, put it to market first.

      • nugsdad

         You want credit ……..make it affordable in Australia

    • marc

      this is an ambush marketing  – moderator please remove Gerhrad Schrieber  comment

    • Birty

      Pretty much all those systems pre-date 2009 so none were born out of the MB Safety Concept. Do some research and name one major safety system that MB bought to the market first. 

    • Martin

      You’re definitely on the money. Mercedes Benz are the biggest safety innovators in the industry. And before the keyboard warriors start, I drive a BMW, not a Mercedes.

  • guest

    Citroen had a lane departure warning system (read vibrating seat) in the C5 back in 2004. This is not a world first.

  • Shak

    Sad that Australia doesn’t get Cadillac. I would’ve really really like to see an ATS in my driveway. Talking to a family member who sat in the XTS at the Chicago show he was literally blown away with how much of a step up Cadillac has taken in design and quality of its interiors. Maybe if the ATS and XTS do well for GM and if Infiniti starts to make some headway in our market, GM might consider introducing Cadillac again.

    • Dave S

      If Nissan can give us Infinity, surely GM can send us Caddillac. Something to compete with the German imports who have to $90 000+ market to themselves.

  • Bachman Turner Overdrive

    If the vibration function is stuck on it may cause accidents. What happened before impact? At that point I was saying YES, YES, YES!!!!

  • Dieter

    Why didn’t they just do the feature correctly (like MB, Audi etc) and have the car automatically apply steering/braking correction to bring the car back into line?

  • ramest

    why not just pay attention when you drive. you won’t need any vibrators than:)

    • Nick

      any vibrators THAN what?

  • Peanut

    They should invent a hand that slaps you across the face when you do something stupid.

    • Dave S

      or a cup of water..