Assessing driver fatigue

An innovative safety system that could reduce accident levels is being developed in Sweden.
February 27, 2012 Read time: 1 min
An innovative safety system that could reduce accident levels is being developed in Sweden. This new technology is intended to determine whether drivers are too tired to drive. Accident data shows that high levels of road accidents are caused by drivers who are too tired while at the wheel and this new system uses eye-tracking to test if the person is not in a fit state to drive. The test involves the person tracking a moving ball and of the eye movements show too slow a response, this reveals the state of fatigue. The aim is to introduce the system as a package for modern cars, similar to the alco-lock devices now installed on many vehicles. As part of the development project some 24 people have undergone tests on the system, which is being developed jointly with the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) at Linköping in Sweden. The Swedish police force has also expressed its interest in the technology for evaluating how tired drivers are to assess their state of fitness to drive.

Related Content

  • New system to detect phone use
    May 9, 2016
    A new system dubbed the Textalyser could reveal if drivers in the US state of New York were using a phone at time of a collision. The device has been developed to allow police to analyse whether drivers were using a mobile phone at the time of a crash. The device checks the metadata on a phone to see if it was used recently. This method ensures that messages, contacts, photos, and so on are kept private. New York City is proposing that police use these devices to catch drivers who are distracted by thei
    Read More
  • Safer highway containment continues to grow
    March 8, 2012
    A steady flow of new technology and systems is ensuring the highway barrier sector is seeing major gains in safety. Mike Woof reports A combination of technological development and tougher regulations are ensuring a constant flow of new safety barrier solutions for the highway sector. Issues such as containment and deflection are high on the technical agenda, while a wide array of technologies is being developed to meet specific needs for certain applications. Both in the US and Europe, an increased focus o
    Read More
  • Road safety improvements and challenges worldwide
    May 24, 2012
    Road safety is again hitting the headlines worldwide, with new data showing accident reductions being achieved as well as highlighting areas for improvement. Several European nations showed major safety improvements. In Spain, the Home Affairs Office has published encouraging information revealing that the number of fatalities from car accidents fell in 13 out of the country's 17 autonomous regions during 2010. La Rioja region reported a drop of 47%, the best improvement in Spain, while the regions of Astur
    Read More
  • Innovations in aggregates production will boost quarry efficiency
    March 16, 2016
    New innovations are underway that will help optimise rock crushing and screening operations and boost quarry efficiency overall - Mike Woof writes. Quarrying is a tough industry that provides enormous challenges to equipment providers as machines and technology have to be rugged, durable and productive. Cutting the cost of production while optimising output has been a major target for suppliers, with new technologies playing an increasingly important role. Taking the long view with regard to increased qu
    Read More

Highlighted Content