Waking up dozy drivers

Engineers at Saab have developed a new system they hope will help prevent drivers falling asleep at the wheel.

Saab’s Driver Attention Warning System is a development project designed to counter two of the most common causes of road accidents: driver drowsiness and inattention at the wheel. It alerts the driver by using a combination of text and voice messages, or vibrations in the seat cushion, as soon as the risk of drowsiness or inattention is detected.

Unlike other similar systems, the Driver Attention Warning System does not rely on measuring an erratic change in the steered direction of the vehicle. Instead, it uses two miniature infra-red cameras, one installed at the base of the driver’s A-pillar and the other in the centre of the main fascia, which are focused on the driver’s eyes. The image from the cameras is analysed by software that deploys a series of alerts when the pattern of eye-lid movement indicates the onset of drowsiness, or when the driver is not looking at the road ahead.