Inattention and drowsiness, two closely related accident causes which account for up to 24% of all fatal accidents on motorways, are addressed by the system described in this article. The basis of the safety system is the image processing unit which monitors the vehicle position using the Time-to-Line-Crossing (TLC) criterion. The system also checks the driver behaviour unobtrusively for signs of oncoming drowsiness using an algorithm derived from extensive studies with fatigued truck and passenger car drivers. In case of unintentional lane drifts an extensively tested auditory warning guarantees a quick and safe driver reaction to recover the vehicle position. (A)
Abstract