The development of an on-board driver performance/fatigue monitoring system could potentially assist long-haul commercial drivers in identifying the onset of fatigue and preventing accidents. This article reports on a on-road field study that used a completely automated trigger-based data collection system. The authors examined the use of self-assessment of fatigue and temporal separation (minimum time to collision, minimum headway, and mean headway) as indicators of driver fatigue. Results showed that, within the scope of this study, neither measurement was found to be a valid indicator of driver fatigue. The authors conclude with a lengthy discussion of anecdotal reports that commercial motor vehicle operators do not appear to follow the standard progression of events associated with the onset of driver fatigue. The authors also outline the limitations of this experimental protocol.
Abstract