Many modern cars are equipped with some manner of Advanced Driver Assistance System, or ADAS for short, a low-level autonomous driving framework. These systems utilize cameras and sensors mounted somewhere inside the car's cabin, usually near the windshield and/or rearview mirror, to provide you with various helpful features like pedestrian detection and lane departure warnings. Of course, much like how you need your own eyes to see the road, an ADAS needs its cameras and sensors to be clear and unobstructed
to do its job.
What's potentially problematic about this is that the top of the windshield and near the rear view mirror are several common spots for drivers to place accessories like hanging air fresheners or stickers. If you've installed accessories on your windshield and rearview mirror in previous cars, you might want to drop the habit if you've just purchased an ADAS-equipped car, as it could prevent the system from functioning properly. In fact, you can find warnings and recommendations to this effect in your car's own user manual.
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Stickers And Accessories Can Block The Camera's Field Of View
The cameras that are necessary for an ADAS to function are typically installed either right in front or right behind your car's rearview mirror, pointing right out through the windshield to see the road. Depending on the camera's precise positioning, any kind of accessory you place near the top of your windshield or around the rearview mirror could end up right in front of those cameras.
For example, if you check the owner's manuals for a 2024 Subaru Outback, which is equipped with Subaru's EyeSight ADAS, you can find a warning about proper handling of the system's stereo camera amongst the EyeSight information (PDF). The manual has a diagram denoting two prohibited areas, including around the rearview mirror and on top of the dashboard.
Installing accessories in these areas, including stickers on the inside or outside of the windshield or toys or stuffed animals on the dashboard, could result in abnormal or otherwise hindered EyeSight performance. If an object or sticker is blocking the camera's line of sight, the camera may either produce an error or constantly assume there's some manner of obstacle in front of your car. If you want to place accessories in your car, try to stick to spots outside of the prohibited areas. As the manual notes, though, even if you place accessories outside of the prohibited areas, it's possible for light to reflect off of them into the camera lenses, which could necessitate moving them.
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Read the original article on SlashGear.
