More than ninety percent of road accidents are caused by 'human mistakes'. In general, two kinds of mistakes can be observed: violations, of which speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs are most common; and human “errors”, in which the driver state - inattentiveness, fatigue, distraction - and inexperience play an important role. In an aging society, sudden medical incapacitation is also a growing cause of road crashes. Already, driver advisory systems such as Speed Assistance Systems (SAS) and Attention Assist target the human element in crashes by alerting the driver in critical situations and, ultimately, by supporting the driver to improve his behaviour. In addition, adapting intervention criteria to individual drivers and the driver’s state may provide a significant potential for earlier interventions in the future without compromising false-positive levels. Euro NCAP envisages an incentive for driver monitoring systems1 that effectively detect impaired and distracted driving and give appropriate warning and take effective action e.g. initiating a safe evasive manoeuvre, limp home mode, increased increasing sensitivity of Electronic Stability Control, lane support, speed, etc. Implementation in the overall rating is planned in phases, starting with systems that have already entered the market. The assessment will evolve around how reliably and accurately the status of the driver is detected and what action the vehicle takes based on the information. Other aspects, such as driver position monitoring, could be added in future iterations of the protocol. (Author/publisher)
Abstract