NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO TACKLE ROAD SAFETY
Several factors of driver state negatively impact road safety, such as distraction (in-vehicle or external), fatigue and drowsiness, health concerns (e.g. illness, frailty, cognitive state) and extreme emotions (e.g. anxiety, stress, anger). Moreover, differences in socio-cultural
factors are still among the main determinants of road risks. At the same time, technological developments make massive and detailed operator performance data easily available. For example via new in-vehicle sensors that capture detailed driving style and contextual data. This creates new opportunities for the detection and design of customised interventions to mitigate the risks, increase awareness and upgrade driver performance, constantly and dynamically. The optimal exploitation of these opportunities is the challenge that i-DREAMS faces.
HOW WILL I-DREAMS MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
The project focuses on the driver-vehicle environment interactions and on the human factors affecting the behaviour of drivers. Technology to monitor and analyse driving behaviour is used, to keep the driver in the ‘Safety Tolerance Zone’. This technology can intervene both during and after the ride. During experiments, for example, sensors in the steering wheel or a wristband will monitor the driver's heart rhythm, so that both the driving behaviour and the alertness of the driver are measured in real-time. The vehicle could give a warning if the sensor detects that the driver is no longer concentrated or engages in risky driving situations. Even after the ride, the driver can be briefed about dangerous traffic situations that occurred while driving. This can have a sensitizing effect and can be used for driver training purposes.
Initial testing will take place in a driving simulator environment after which promising interventions will be tested and validated under real-world conditions in a testbed consisting of 600 drivers in total across 5 EU countries. Market roadmaps will be developed to support smooth transition of the investigated technologies to the market and experience from use cases in different European countries will be used to disseminate best practices.