One question I get asked on a regular basis has to do with the high tech gadget that many of us have in our cars but never think about. And the question is as follows…
"Where is it OK and not OK to place my E-Z Pass in light of the advanced safety features in my new vehicle?"
This is actually a really good question. The advanced safety features you find a new vehicles such as lane departure warning, forward collision alert, and dynamic radar cruise control all rely on a front facing camera mounted to the inside of your windshield. This is why there is a large chunky looking piece of plastic behind the rearview mirror on your new car; it's housing a front camera that feeds information to the advanced safety features.
Front facing cameras on newer vehicles send a tremendous amount of information at an incredible rate of speed and are obviously very sensitive. So where do you place your E-Z Pass?
The short answer is this: Place the E-Z Pass on the inside of your vehicle's windshield at least 6 inches away from the forward facing camera.Most manufacturers don't have very much to say on the subject, but Subaru seems to have this down to a science. Their dual camera EyeSight system makes Subarus some of the safest vehicles on the road today, so their engineers are extra careful to make sure that ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) systems don't conflict with this amazing technology.
So the rules that I would follow for placing my E-Z Pass in my vehicle with advanced safety features would be to make sure it's at least 6 inches from the front facing camera, and somewhere that did not in anyway obstruct my view of the road. The greatest safety feature we have ever had in vehicles are alert drivers who have a clear view of the road. No amount of convenience is worth hampering that.
Let me know if you have any further questions. I'm always around!
