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Volvo pioneers sleep detection system

Volvo is claiming a world first with a safety device that can monitor whether a driver is falling asleep at the wheel.

The Driver Alert system uses a camera installed between the windscreen and the rear view mirror, with sensors and a processor, to constantly monitor the distance between the car and the road markings.

If the vehicle is moving in an uncontrolled way, the system will alert the driver with an audible warning and a message on the car’s information display.

The system works not just if the driver is falling asleep, but also if the driver loses concentration for some other reason, such as paying too much attention to other gadgets or to the passengers.

Dr Wolfgang Birk, project manager for the Driver Alert system, said: “We have chosen to monitor the car’s progress on the road instead of steering wheel input or the driver’s eye movements.

“This gives us a more reliable indication if something is likely to go wrong, allowing the system time to alert the driver before it is too late. we do not monitor human behaviour, which varies from one person to another, but instead the effect of that behaviour, so there is less risk of false alarms.”

The system can also give a visual warning which prewarns a driver if the driving is getting less controlled. A display of five stars on the dash slowly disappears if the driving becomes more wayward.

Volvo says that driver sleepiness is responsible for more road deaths than alcohol. In Germany, it is thought to account for a quarter of all fatal accidents and in the US about 1,500 deaths a year.