Yearly, many deaths and injured are the cost of today's road traffic. Therefore, it is wise to look for possible solutions. Some Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are expected to increase safety, but they may also evoke new safety hazards. In this paper, the problem area is analysed to determine the most important safety problems, and a risk analysis of Driver Vigilance and Health Monitoring Systems (DVHMS) is performed as an example case, to estimate the expected effects. It is concluded that situation awareness defects, impaired driver state and violations of traffic rules are important sources of accidents. The DVHMS is considered a powerful ADAS to control these problems, but it is expected that the warning-only functionality is most viable, and that the first beneficiaries will be professional drivers or drivers who suffer from particular diseases. These analyses are part of ADVISORS, a project co-funded by the EC (DGTREN). (Author/publisher)
Abstract