Night Watch.

Police often don night-vision goggles to sleuth out criminals in the dark. The U.S. military turns to see-in-the-dark technology to conduct nighttime enemy raids. Now the future of driving after dark just got brighter.

Starting with its year 2000 Cadillac DeVille, General Motors plans to install a new Night Vision system to help drivers see better at night. "Night Vision will be an important next step in the evolution of automotive satiety," says Cadillac General Manager John F. Smith.

Regular headlights let a driver see about 91 meters (100 yards) down the road, says Smith. The new technology will let night drivers peer into the dark nearly 457 meters (500 yards)--about the length of five football fields. That extra distance can save lives. Your risk of a traffic accident doubles when darkness falls.

In 1996, more than 18,000 drivers or passengers died in nighttime car crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. About 3,500 pedestrians and 368 bicyclists were also killed.

Night Vision works using infrared or thermal-imaging technology. Almost all objects--humans, animals, cars--emit heat (infrared radiation). Infrared radiation is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum just below ("infra") the frequency of red light. The Cadillac's new thermal-imaging device images heat like a camcorder images light. The device absorbs heat emitted by objects on the road. Then it creates pictures liar drivers to see.

Say a deer crosses the road. The deer's body emits heat energy in the form of invisible infrared rays. A grid of detectors located behind the car's front grille absorbs the radiation, and converts it electronically into a grid of video signals. A virtual image is projected on a small screen near the front edge of the hood--the deer appears white. Drivers take in the image without taking their eyes off the road. Lucky deer.