We all love cars and bikes and if you have ended up here then it is most likely that you have plenty of love for riding your wheels and doing so with pomp and splendor. Yet there is another ugly face to the auto world that needs to be addressed and taken care of. As much as we love having fun on the drawing board and on the roads, all the safety features in your car are the ones that actually keep you alive when you make that fatal error. The fact remains that even the best of drivers in the world make mistakes and if anyone requires proof then the demise of the late great Ayrton Senna and the broken leg for many months of Michael Schumacher are sufficient enough!
Accident researchers at Mercedes-Benz are acutely aware of the danger in nodding off at the wheel. In the view of these specialists, long holiday journeys without intermediate breaks involve a high risk of overtiredness, whose signs drivers often fail to notice in time. For this reason Mercedes-Benz has developed the innovative driver support system Attention Assist. This is able to recognize driver fatigue at an early stage, and warn the driver that a break is called for soon. The system will enter series production in spring 2009. Scientific studies indicate that around 25 percent of all serious accidents occurring on motorways are caused by overtired drivers. In other words, this accident cause is of even more significance than driving under the influence of alcohol.
It works by monitoring the driving style and conditions, the steering characteristics are highlighted as the most important, it monitors the personal driving style and steering behavior of the driver and uses these to also detect the traffic situation based on the longitudinal and lateral acceleration. Additional factors also taken into account are the road condition, driving conditions (weather) and the time of day. This is more significant than all the fancy designs as one has to live to drive another day!
Via: team-bhp
Comments
Fatalities behind the wheel are a regular event with roads laden with over-tired drivers. It is actually important to comprehend driver behavior from time to time so as to warn of before a mishap happens. Yes this is great for the technology point of view but then these tired drivers are not normally the ones who hit longer journeys in secy saloons. It is the common car or the truck driver that meets the fate here in Indian which makes the pricing of this system a major issue.
Yes, the pricing of the system is indeed a problem and coming from Mercedes means that it will be a problem that will last a while. Hopefully very soon such systems will be made compulsory in all newly manufactured vehicles which would go some way in avoiding the troubles. But you know how things work commercially.
Yes, just limited car owners and enthusiast will update their cars with this. These detections will be able to drivers and their cars as well. You can’t really predict road accidents. If Vehicle Voice would be heard, these detections will make the normal and usual car life a complicated one.