Nissan drives work on ‘smart’ cars

To make driving safer, Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co. is developing a car that swerves back into its lane on its own and features a video system intended to make parking a breeze.

“Lane Departure Prevention” combines a camera and computerized devices that control braking for front and rear wheels, nudging the car in the right direction. The feature disengages when you hit the turn signal, so you can change lanes and make turns.

Nissan has a system to make squeezing into parking spots easier. Four cameras — in the front, on the back and on side mirrors — relay live video.

Images from all sides are shown as they would appear from above, with the car displayed as a computer graphic in the middle.

The automaker has yet to decide on when it will offer either system, and rival automakers have similar smart-car features in the works.

Nissan also is working on a computerized system that controls the steering of front and rear wheels to stabilize driving when a car switches directions quickly.

Workplace

Employers likely to lift wages, reduce benefits

As general economic conditions improve, employers may be slightly more generous about wage increases when contract talk time arrives, according to a survey of companies’ bargaining objectives.

But employers remain keen on achieving labor concessions when it comes to the pricey arena of health care and insurance benefits, with 69 percent saying they need to pursue savings in those areas. That said, 59 percent said better wages might be an option.

And where would employers most likely cut or eliminate benefits? Prescription drug coverage led that group, with nearly a third (32 percent) citing that cost, followed by doctor visits (28 percent), hospital coverage (26 percent) and surgical coverage (26 percent).

Almost a fourth of employers that have restrictions on outsourcing or subcontracting will be seeking to curtail or eliminate those provisions in 2005, the survey found.

The results are from a survey of 100 U.S. companies by Washington-based BNA Inc., which publishes financial reports and other analysis for business.

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