Driver drowsiness detection, also known as driver alertness monitoring, is a car safety technology which helps prevent accidents caused by the driver getting drowsy. Various studies have suggested that around 20% of all road accidents are fatigue-related, up to 50% on certain roads.
Drowsiness can impair a driver’s mental stability, reducing their ability to make sound decisions and potentially leading to physical harm and financial losses for both the driver and passengers.
From 2024, the EU mandates drowsiness detection systems in all new vehicles to enhance road safety.
Various technologies can be used to try to detect driver drowsiness.
Primarily uses steering input from electric power steering system. Monitoring a driver this way only works as long as the driver actually steers a vehicle actively instead of using an automatic lane-keeping system.
Uses a lane monitoring camera. Monitoring a driver this way only works as long as the driver actually steers a vehicle actively instead of using an automatic lane-keeping system.
Uses computer vision to observe the driver's face, either using a built-in camera or on mobile devices.
Requires body sensors to measure parameters like brain activity, heart rate, skin conductance, heartbeat, muscle activity, head movements, among others.[citation needed]
In European Union, regulation (EU) 2019/2144 "General Safety Regulation" introduced high level requirements for vehicle safety systems, including the driver monitoring system.
driver drowsiness and attention warning means a system that assesses the driver’s alertness through vehicle systems analysis and warns the driver if needed
— regulation (EU) 2019/2144
Driver drowsiness and attention warning and advanced driver distraction warning systems shall be designed in such a way that those systems do not continuously record nor retain any data other than what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed within the closed-loop system. Furthermore, those data shall not be accessible or made available to third parties at any time and shall be immediately deleted after processing. Those systems shall also be designed to avoid overlap and shall not prompt the driver separately and concurrently or in a confusing manner where one action triggers both systems.
— regulation (EU) 2019/2144
These high level requirements are, since 2021, fully defined in an implementing act at EU level. Outside EU, the UNECE working group "Driver Drowsiness and Distraction Warning Systems" intends to "develop draft regulatory proposals for two new UN Regulations on Driver Drowsiness and Driver Distraction to prevent crashes caused by the driver not paying attention to the driving task." (first entry of the terms of reference of the working group)