Awake at the wheel
By: Jack Nerad for Driving Today
Date: 2004-12-17
Here's an innovation--television that keeps you awake. While most of us are known to fall asleep in front of the TV set, Distribution Technologies (DistTech), a contract and common carrier, is testing a driver fatigue monitor with its fleet drivers based at the company's terminal in Neville Island, Pennsylvania. The company has installed the Driver Fatigue Monitor (DFM) marketed by Pittsburgh-based Attention Technology Inc. in eight vehicles.
The DFM, which mounts on the dashboard to the right of the steering wheel, has a compact video-based sensor that measures slow eyelid closure associated with drowsiness. If the DFM identifies that the driver is drowsy, the unit sounds an audible alert that will presumably wake him or her up.
"Even though our fleet consistently posts one of the best safety records in the industry, we feel that any accident is one too many," said John Hazenfield, senior vice president/CIO for DistTech. "If the DFM helps to prevent even one accident, it's invaluable to us and our drivers."
The initial response from the drivers testing the device in Neville Island has been overwhelmingly positive. Because the DFM is portable and can be mounted in just minutes, some of the drivers are also using the units in their cars on the way to and from the terminal, especially at night.
"Driver fatigue is difficult for drivers to notice because it builds slowly over an hour or so," explained Dr. Richard Grace, CEO and founder of Attention Technology. "The DFM can alert drivers to impending fatigue an hour before a potentially dangerous situation. Our device is the result of more than 10 years of research, design and testing at Carnegie Mellon University and has been validated by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) as being able to accurately measure drowsiness."
Now if they could just do something about the quality of network TV, we'd really have something.
- Drivers.com -- articles and links on Fatigue
- Drivers.com article: Drowsy driving
- Drivers.com article with tips to fight drowsiness
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