Yes! There is such a thing. Some friends of ours have two posts at the end of the driveway. When someone pulls in their driveway, a doorbell rings in their house. They said there is a laser that causes it to go off. I'm sorry I don't have any additional info, but it does exist! :)

You can find one at www.smarthome.com. Do a search on "driveway sensor". I have the sensor made by Winland Industries - you have to buy the console (125) and the probe which ranges in price based on the length of the cable.

This type of sensor detects changes in the magnetic field - so a car passing by it will set it off. You can adjust the sensitivity to pick up (or not) something as small as a dog leash with some metal in it moving past the sensor. The metal object must be moving to set the buzzer off, so parking a car over it will not continuously set the beeper off. It does not have a video camera in it - you need a seperate device for that but can link the operation of the two.

The console has a beeper device in it so depending on where you mount it - it might be all you need to provide an alert that someone is coming down the driveway. There is also a relay output that you can use to drive other devices such as a door bell, alarm, or video equipment. Placement will be key becuase this device will detect kids riding around on their bikes and could beep like crazy. We put ours at the entranace to a 600' long driveway so it works well for us.

If the magnetic field sensor will not work for you, they also make optical beams (for outdoor use) that perform a similar function but requires an object to pass through the beams to set the alarm off. Smarthome also sells that typical of sensor.

I would recommend pricing the camera/chime option and *also* asking the builder what it would cost to add a window to the laundry room. You never know what something like that will cost.

We are already over budget(imagine that) and as the exterior is brick,(finished) I'm not even going to consider adding a window now.

Less than $60....
http://www.smarthome.com/7202/Chamberlain-CWA2000-Wireless-Motion-Alert-System/p.aspx

As Sniffdog said, you'll need to buy two devices as there doesn't appear to be a driveway alert system that includes a camera. The sensor Sniffdog mentioned is far less prone to false alarms than the IR motion sensors. The one svs128 posted is just an IR alert, it doesn't have a camera. We've tried several brands of IR alerts, including that one, and all have given us way too many false alarms for everything from deer to crows to large falling leaves.

You may want to check out X10.com for night vision security cameras that you could tie in to your driveway monitor. Even Costco offers security camera packages (if you prefer to buy locally.)